EP0569887A1 - Device for gathering and stitching folded printed products - Google Patents

Abstract

The self-contained movement path (26) for the stitching heads (28) runs around the gathering drum (10). The supports (14) and the stitching heads (28) are mutually synchronised in their rotation around the axis of rotation (12). The wire section dispenser (38) is arranged, with respect to the movement track (26), on the side remote from the gathering drum (10). As each stitching head (28) passes the wire section dispenser (30) it receives a wire section (38), from which a staple is formed during passage through the region (B). In the region (C) the staple is brought from the outer side of the stitching heads, viewed in the radial direction, to the inner side facing the supports (14) and is inserted into the printed sheets (20) in the region (D). <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a device for collecting folded printed sheets, according to the preamble of claim 1.

Such a device is known for example from DE-OS 36 16 566 or the corresponding US-PS 4,735,406. This has a collecting drum with saddle-shaped supports arranged parallel to a common axis of rotation and driven around it. In the direction of the axis of rotation, two feeders are successively provided for placing folded printed sheets on the supports and subsequently a stapling station for stapling the printed sheets lying one above the other. The collected and stapled printed sheets are placed on a conveyor belt for transport immediately after stapling. The stapling station has a plurality of pairs of stapling heads, which are arranged at a distance from the mutually parallel supports on a bracket pivotably mounted on the axis of rotation of the drum. The bracket is moved back and forth by means of a swivel drive, the stitching heads simultaneously placing a clamp in each of the printed sheets placed on the supports during the synchronization with the supports. With regard to the structure of the stitching heads themselves, reference is made in these publications to CH-PS 549 443 and US-PS 4,614,290. A wire is fed to each of these known stitching heads, each of which wire by means of a cutting device arranged on the stitching head a wire section is cut off. This wire section is bent by means of a slidably mounted stamp around a die to form a clamp, which is pressed out of the stamp by means of a likewise slidably mounted plunger and inserted into the printed sheets. A disadvantage of this known device is that the stapling station must have a complex drive which has to exert large acceleration forces, in particular at high processing speeds. In addition, the movement of the stapling heads must be precisely synchronized with the supports during each work cycle of the stapling station. A wire is to be fed to each stitching head, which is complicated for moving the stitching heads both for the feeding of the wire and for the stitching heads themselves.

EP-A-0 205 144 or the corresponding US Pat. No. 4,750,661 describes a stapling station for stapling printed sheets carried by a rotating cylinder. At the free ends of a cross-shaped holding device, which is driven about a shaft parallel to the axis of the cylinder and rotated counter to the direction of rotation of the cylinder, three stitching heads are arranged side by side, which run past three drawer section dispensers common to all corresponding stitching heads. The circular movement path of the stitching heads touches the surface of the cylinder and the rotary movement of the holding device is synchronized with the cylinder in such a way that the printed sheets to be stitched together always meet stitching heads. The cylinder and the Drant section dispenser are located on the outside of the movement spell of the stitching heads.

Furthermore, a device for collecting folded printed sheets from CH-PS 645 074 and the corresponding US-PS 4,408,755 is known. This facility also points a drum with supports running parallel to a common axis of rotation. The folded printed sheets are connected to each other and placed on top of each other to form zigzag bands. By means of a stapling station, not described in any more detail, staples are placed in the tapes supported on top of one another.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a generic device for collecting folded printed sheets, the stapling station of which requires little space and which has a large processing capacity with simple-designed stapling heads and a low-cost drive.

This object is achieved by the features of the characterizing part of claim 1.

The stapling heads, which are arranged essentially one behind the other at a distance from the supports, run along a closed movement path at a substantially the same speed as the supports. This avoids large acceleration forces for the rotation of the stitching heads in the stitching station, which, together with the constant direction of rotation of the stitching heads, enables simple drive. The closed movement path of the stitching heads leads past a wire section dispenser common to the stitching heads. A single wire section dispenser thus supplies all of the stitching heads of a stitching head arrangement, which keeps the necessary facilities for the provision of wire sections extremely small and, moreover, enables the stitching heads to be constructed simply, since the stitching heads themselves no longer have to have a cutting device.

The takeover of the wire sections by the stapling heads on the side of the movement ban of the stapling heads facing away from the orbit of the supports allows the staples to be prepared in a position different from the stapling position. This allows practically any shape of the path of movement and the arrangement of the wire section dispenser even where the path of movement runs along the orbit.

The distance between the stitching heads along the path of movement is so great that when the staples are set, the distance between the staples corresponds to the distance between the supports. Depending on the course of the movement path when setting the staples, the mutual spacing of the stitching heads can therefore be slightly different with respect to the spacing of the supports.

Further preferred embodiments of the invention are defined in the further dependent claims.

Fig. 1

eine Sammeltrommel mit einer Heftstation, deren Heftköpfe entlang einer um die Sammeltrommel herumführenden Bewegungsbahn umlaufen;

Fig. 2 und 3

dieselbe Sammeltrommel wie in Fig. 1, wobei aber die Heftköpfe entlang einer nierenförmigen bzw. kreisförmigen Bewegungsbann umlaufen;

Figur 4

eine Sammeleinrichtung mit langgestreckter Umlaufbahn für die Auflagen und ebenfalls langgestreckter Bewegungsbahn für die Heftköpfe,

Figur 5

eine weitere Ausbildungsform der Einrichtung gemäss Fig. 1,

Figur 6

in vergrösserter Darstellung einen Schnitt entlang der Linie VI-VI der Fig. 5,

Figuren 7 und 8

in Ansicht bzw. Draufsicht einen Heftkopf,

Figur 9

einen Schnitt entlang der Linie IX-IX der Fig. 8,

Figuren 10 bis 15

eine vereinfachte Darstellung des Heftkopfes bei verschiedenen Phasen eines Arbeitszyklus,

Figuren 16 und 17

in Ansicht bzw. Seitenansicht einen Drahtabschnittspender, und

Figuren 18 bis 24

in vergrösserter Darstellung Teile der Einrichtung gemäss Fig. 5 in verschiedenen Phasen eines Umlaufs.

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the drawing. It shows purely schematically:

Fig. 1

a collecting drum with a stapling station, the stapling heads of which run along a movement path leading around the collecting drum;

2 and 3

the same collecting drum as in Figure 1, but with the stitching heads running along a kidney-shaped or circular movement spell;

Figure 4

a collecting device with an elongated orbit for the supports and also an elongated movement path for the stitching heads,

Figure 5

a further form of training of the facility according to FIG. 1,

Figure 6

4 shows an enlarged section along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5,

Figures 7 and 8

a stitching head in view or plan view,

Figure 9

7 shows a section along the line IX-IX of FIG. 8,

Figures 10 to 15

a simplified representation of the stitching head at different phases of a work cycle,

Figures 16 and 17

in view or side view of a wire section dispenser, and

Figures 18 to 24

5 shows parts of the device according to FIG. 5 in different phases of a cycle.

Figure 1 shows a collecting drum 10, as described in EP-A-0 341 425 or the corresponding US patent No. 5,052,667. This collecting drum 10 has saddle-shaped supports 14 arranged around a common axis of rotation 12, running in the direction of the axis of rotation 12 and driven in the direction of rotation U. In the area between each two adjacent supports 14, a carriage 16 which can be moved back and forth in the direction of the rotational axis 12 is provided with a controllable clamping arrangement 18 for the folded printed sheets 20 straddling the supports 14.

A stapling station 22 has a stapling head arrangement 24 with stapling heads 28 arranged one behind the other along a movement path 26 coaxially around the collecting drum 10. A stapling head 28 is assigned to each support 14, which are thus arranged essentially at the same mutual distance A as the supports 14.

Outside the path of movement 26, a wire section dispenser, designated 30, is provided, along which the path of movement 26 passes. This wire section dispenser 30 has a cutting device 32, by means of which wire sections 38 are separated from a wire 36 drawn off from a supply roll 34. Downstream of the cutting device 32 is a magazine 40 fed by the cutting device 32 with wire sections 38. A conveyor wheel 42 driven in the direction of rotation V, with its holding members 44 arranged along the circumference, pulls a wire section 38 from the magazine 40 and conveys it to the stitching heads 28.

The device shown in Fig. 1 operates as follows. Seen in the conveying direction of the carriage 16, the Stapling station 22 upstream feed stations for printed sheets in a known manner. These feed stations each place a folded printed sheet 20 astride each support 14 passing in the direction of rotation U at the feed station. Before in each case a support 14 runs into the lower region of its circular movement path, the relevant clamping arrangement 18 is clamped in order to hold the parts of the printed sheets 20 which extend into the corresponding carriage 16. In the course of passing through the lower half of the path of movement of the supports 14, the carriages 16 make a working stroke in the longitudinal direction of the axis of rotation 12 to the next feed station or to the stapling station 22. When the lower half of the path of movement of the supports 14 is left, the relevant clamping arrangement 18 is released again. so that the printed sheets 20 do not experience any movement in the upper region of the orbit of the supports 14 in the direction of the orbital axis 12. In this area of the movement path, the carriages 16 make a return stroke with the clamping arrangement 18 open.

The stitching heads 28 are also driven in the direction of rotation U in synchronism with the supports 14. When a stapling head 28 runs past the feed wheel 42, it takes over a wire section 38 from the feed wheel 42. In a region designated B, viewed in the direction of rotation U, following the wire section dispenser 30, the wire section 38 now held by the stapling head 28 is formed into a clamp, as is the case here will be described in detail below. In a subsequent region of the movement path 26, designated by C, the clip is moved from the side of the stitching heads 28 lying on the outside in the radial direction to the inside of the supports 14 brought to the side. In a region D of the movement path 26 of the stitching heads 28 in the upper half of the orbit of the supports 14, in which the printing sheets 20 do not move in the direction of the circumferential axis 12, the relevant stitching heads 28 are placed on the printing sheets 20 placed one above the other on the supports 14 lowered and the clamps inserted into the printed sheets. The distance A of the stapling heads 28 corresponds to the spacing of the support 14. After the staples have been placed, the stapling heads 28 are raised again, after which the collected and stapled printed sheets 20 are fed to a removal station in the course of the next rotation of the collecting drum 10 in the direction of the rotational axis 12 will.

The collecting drum 10 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 corresponds to that of FIG. 1 and is therefore no longer described in detail. 2, the movement path 26 for the stitching heads 28 is kidney-shaped and runs in an area D along the orbit of the supports 14 of the collecting drum 10. The collecting drum 10 is arranged outside the movement path 26 and the wire section dispenser 30, which is only indicated schematically, is arranged inside the latter. The collecting drum 10 rotates counterclockwise U and the stitching heads 28 are driven in the opposite direction U 'at the same speed as that of the pads 14. The distance A of the stapling heads 28 corresponds in turn to the spacing of the supports 14 when the staples are set, so that in the area D for setting the staples a corresponding stapling head 28 runs with each support. The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 essentially corresponds to that of FIG. 2. The only difference is that the movement path 26 is circular and thus the area D is essentially shortened to a point D '. This means that the respective stitching head 28 comes into contact only very briefly with the staple in the printed sheets 20 deposited on the supports 14. Here, too, the stitching heads 28 are arranged along their movement path 26 at a distance A, which corresponds to the distance between the supports 14 of the collecting drum 10 when the clamps are set.

The embodiment of the device for collecting folded printed sheets 20 shown in FIG. 4 has a collecting conveyor 46 as described in EP-A-0 346 578 or in the corresponding US Pat. No. 5,104,108 or with a similar structure in the EP -B- 0 095 603 or the corresponding US-A-4,489,930. This has a pulling element 50 which is guided around two deflection wheels, spaced apart from one another and only indicated by their essentially horizontal axes of rotation 48, on which, at certain intervals, supports 14 arranged one behind the other, parallel to one another and at right angles to the direction of rotation U are arranged. The stapling station 22 has a stapling head arrangement 24 arranged above the collecting conveyor 46 with an elongated movement path 26 for the stapling heads 28. The stitching heads 28 are arranged on a pulling element, not shown, with the same spacing A as the supports 14 in the area D. The traction element is driven in the direction U 'at the same speed as the traction element 50 in the direction U. The stitching heads 28 thus run in the area D synchronously with the supports 14 and move past the wire section dispenser 30 which is distant from the area D. In a known manner and As seen in the direction of the arrow U, the stapling station 22 is connected upstream of the stapling station 22 along the upper run of the collecting conveyor 46, feeding stations for placing folded printed sheets 20 on the supports 14. Of course, the stapling station 22 is followed by an exit station for the stapled printed sheets 20.

The stapling stations 22 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 function as follows. Each stitching head 28 takes over a wire section from the wire section dispenser 30 as it passes by. In the course of the orbital movement in the direction of arrow U 'along the movement ban 26, a clip is bent from the wire section in the area between the wire section dispenser 30 and the area D, D' (clip setting area) and this clip is brought to the side of the stitching heads 28 that is outside the track 26 . In the area D, D ', the stitching heads 28 come to rest on the relevant supports 14 or the printed sheets 20 placed thereon and place the clamp in the printed sheets 20.

A form of training of the device according to FIG. 1 is now explained in more detail below. The stapling station 22 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 has two stapling head arrangements 24 arranged on the same holding arrangement 52. The holding arrangement 52 is annular and encompasses coaxially the collecting drum 10 which is driven about the axis of rotation 12 in the direction of rotation U. The holding arrangement 52 has two retaining rings 54 which are spaced apart from one another in the direction of the axis of rotation 12 and which are connected to one another in a cage-like manner by means of lattice bars 56. The retaining rings 54 are each freely rotatably mounted on three bearing rollers 60 which are arranged on a frame 58 and are approximately equally spaced from one another.

Each support 14 is assigned a stitching head 28 from each stitching head arrangement 24, which are fastened to a common support profile 62 at a distance from one another in the direction of the axis of rotation 12 (FIG. 6). A C-shaped bearing part 64 is fastened to the support profile 62 at both ends, and its free end regions 64 'are each guided on a bearing shaft 66 so as to be displaceable in the radial direction E. The bearing shaft 66 is arranged on a likewise C-shaped holding part 68 fastened to the respective holding ring 54, the end region 64 ′ of the bearing part 64 shown above in FIG. 6 being encompassed by the holding part 68. A compression spring 70 is guided around the bearing shaft 66 and, as seen in the direction E, is supported on the inside of the holding part 68 and on the outside on the bearing part 64. The compression springs 70 thus hold the stitching heads 28 in a rest position, not shown in FIG. 6, in which the stitching heads 28 are lifted off the supports 14 and in which the bearing parts 64 are in contact with the holding parts 68.

The mounting parts 64 each have an arm 72 protruding outwards in the radial direction via the relevant holding part 68, on each of which a follower roller 74 is freely rotatably mounted. Above the collecting drum 10 is on Frame 58 is attached to a pair of lowering blocks 76 acting on these follow rollers 74.

In the area of the pair of lowering blocks 76, a plunger link 78 assigned to each stapling head arrangement 24 is further fastened to the frame 58, these acting on plungers 80 of the stapling heads 28 in an area in which the stapling heads 28 are in their support position shown in FIG.

On each of the holding parts 68 fastened to the holding ring 54, a driver 82 is slidably mounted in the radial direction. The driver 82 has at its end facing the support 14 an essentially V-shaped driver profile 84 and at its opposite end a freely rotatable follower roller 86. Another compression spring 88 encompasses the driver 82 and, viewed in the radial direction, is supported on the inside on the holding part 68 and on the outside on a ring 90 fastened to the driver 82. By means of a driver control link 92 arranged on the frame 58 and acting on the follower rollers 86 approximately over the upper half of the movement path 26 of the stitching heads 28, the respective driver profile 84 is from a rest position, not shown in FIG. 6, in which the driver profile 84 is in contact with the holding part 68. can be lowered against the force of the further compression spring 88 into a driving position shown in FIG. 6, in which the V-shaped driver profile 84 engages around the saddle-shaped support 14.

Seen in the direction of rotation U, following the end of the pair of lowering sets 76, there is one (in FIG dash-dotted lines) arranged on clamping lever 94 of stitching heads 28 acting release link 96. Following the wire section dispenser 30 indicated by an arrow, a link-shaped die 98 acting on the wire section 38 and a swivel link 102 acting on an actuating shaft 100 of the stitching heads 28 are further arranged on the frame 58 (see FIG. 5).

The support 14 is shown partially cut open in FIG. 6. On the support 14 there are printed sheets 20 placed one above the other, the clips 104 inserted into the printed sheets 20 being shown below the stitching heads 28 being shown cut open.

Inside the support 14, a coupling 106 is pivotally mounted on two pivoting levers 108 which are pivotably mounted on the support 14 and run parallel to one another in the manner of a parallel crank drive. The swivel lever 108 shown on the left in FIG. 6 is coupled to a control lever 110 which can be moved back and forth in the longitudinal direction of the support 14 by means of a control arrangement (not shown). This up and down movement of the control lever 110 results in a back and forth movement of the coupling 106 in the radial direction E. In the area of the stitching heads 28, slots 112 are provided in the coupling 106, which act on a bending ram 114, which is only indicated schematically, in the direction of the arrow E.

To better understand the mode of operation of the device shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the stapling heads 28 will now be explained in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9 described. On the side flanks 116 of an essentially U-shaped support part 118, a shaft 120, the pivot axis 122, indicated by dash-dotted lines, runs parallel to the longitudinal direction of the support profile 62 (see FIG. 6) and thus parallel to the circumferential axis 12 of the collecting drum 10, is freely rotatable . In the area between the two lateral flanks 116, two spaced sleeves 124 are seated on the shaft 120, which sleeves are connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the shaft 120 by means of pins 126 and to which stamp arms 128 of a stamp 130 running parallel to one another are fastened. The two punch arms 128 are connected to one another by means of a lateral web 132. In the free end region, the two punch arms 128 have a slight thickening 134 directed towards one another, in which grooves 136 which are open to one another and are provided in the radial direction are provided. These grooves 136 are also open at the free end of the punch 130 in the radial direction. Each punch arm 128 has at its free end, adjacent to the groove 136, a driver lug 138 projecting in the radial direction and a permanent magnet 140 arranged in the punch arm 128. FIGS. 7 and 8 show a wire section 38 which is gripped by the driver lugs 138 and held by the permanent magnets 140. FIGS. 7 and 8 show the stamp 130 in its rest position and in FIG. 9 in the clamp setting position 130 '.

A spacer sleeve 142 is seated on each sleeve 124 in the region of the pin 126 and a pivot lever 144 is freely rotatably mounted between the spacer sleeve 142 and the relevant stamp arm 128. At the free end areas of the pivot lever 144, the two pivot levers 144 are together connecting, substantially annular segment-shaped clamp holding member 146 is arranged. Two mutually spaced grooves 148 are let into the clamp holding member 146, into which the free end regions of the stamp arms 128 engage when the stamp 130 is pivoted. A leaf spring arrangement 150 fastened to the supporting part 118 acts on the one pivot lever 144 with a counterclockwise force and presses the pivot levers 144 with the stops 152 formed on them against the supporting part 118.Above the pivot lever 144 in a counterclockwise direction, the clamp holding member 146 has one Clamp guide tab 154. This clamp guide lug 154 is wedge-shaped and has a wedge surface, which is denoted in the radial direction and is designated 154 ′.

The plunger 80 is guided on the support part 118 so as to be displaceable in the arrow direction F. This direction of displacement F runs parallel to the grooves 136 in the punch arms 128 when the punch 130 is in the clamp-setting position 130 '. The plunger 80 has a plunger head 158 at its lower end region, the punch 130 between the two punch arms when the clamp 130 is in the clamp-setting position 130' 128 reaches into it. On the plunger head 158 laterally projecting guide wedges 160 are formed, which when the plunger 80 is moved in the direction F from its rest position shown in FIG. 7 into the ejection position shown in FIG. 9 with the plunger 130 located in the clamp-setting position 130 'into the grooves 136. At its lower end, the plunger head 158 has a pushing groove 162 for ejecting the clip 104 guided in the grooves 136 with its lateral arms 104 '. The plunger 80 continues to point a groove-shaped recess 164 open towards the supporting part 118, in which a compression spring 166 is arranged, which is supported at the top on the plunger 80 and at the bottom on a bolt 168 which is attached to the supporting part 118 and extends into the groove-shaped recess 164 (FIG. 9). The compression spring 166 holds the plunger 80 in the rest position indicated by solid lines in FIG. 7 and by dash-dotted lines in FIG.

The lateral flanks 116 have pressing lugs 170 which protrude from the plunger 130 which is in the clamping position 130 'and which are separated from one another by an essentially V-shaped recess 170' at the lower end. When the stitching head 28 is lowered, it comes to rest with the pressing noses 170 on the support 14 or on the printed sheet 20 placed thereon.

The support part 118 is also mounted in a bearing arrangement 172 fastened to the support profile 62 (see also FIG. 6) and can be displaced in the direction of the arrow F. At the lateral ends, the support part 118 likewise has groove-shaped recesses 174 (FIGS. 7 and 8), into each of which a bore 176 with a thread 176 ′ opens from below. Further bolts 178 are arranged on the bearing arrangement 172, which engage in the groove-shaped recesses 174 and on which an additional compression spring 180 is supported at the top. At the bottom, this compression spring 180 presses against a screw 182 inserted into the thread 176 '. The compression spring 180 thus holds the support part 118 with respect to the bearing arrangement 172 in the lower rest position shown in FIG. 7, on which the support part 118 is supported on the bolt 178 . When lowering the support profile 162 (see FIG. 6) by the action of the pair of lowering blocks 76 on the follow rollers 74, the support part 118 with the pressing noses 170 comes to rest on the support 14 or on the printed sheet 20 placed thereon. The different position of the lowered stitching head 28 with respect to the support 14 due to the different thickness of the printed sheets 20 is now accommodated by shifting the support part 118 with respect to the support profile 62 (and bearing arrangement 172) which is always lowered to the same dimension.

A drive arrangement 184 for pivoting the shaft 120 is fastened to the one side flank 116 of the supporting part 118 shown at the bottom in FIG. This has a guide member 185, on which the actuating shaft 100 is also slidably mounted in the direction of arrow F. At the lower end region, a rack 186 is formed on the actuating shaft 100, which meshes with a pinion 190 that is seated in a rotationally fixed manner on the shaft 120. In a downwardly open bore 192 in the actuating shaft 100, a further compression spring 194 is arranged, which is supported at the top on the actuating shaft 100 and at the bottom on a pin 196 fastened to the guide member 185. The pin 196 penetrates a slot-shaped passage 198 in the actuating shaft 100. The upper end region of the actuating shaft 100 is covered by a cap-shaped sliding block 200, which can be displaced in the longitudinal direction with respect to the actuating shaft 100 and by means of a further pin 196 ′ fastened to the actuating shaft 100, which slides the sliding block 200 penetrated in an also elongated passage 198 'is held. A further compression spring 194 'is in a bore 192' in the actuating shaft 100 which is open towards the top. used, which is supported on the slide shoe 200 and the actuating shaft 100. If the actuating shaft 100 is in its lower end position, shown in FIG. 9, and the pivot link 102 approaches the supporting part 118 even closer, the compression spring 194 'takes up this approach.

The clamping lever 94, which is penetrated by the actuating shaft 100, is pivotably mounted on the guide member 185. The corresponding hole in the clamping lever 94 has only a slightly larger diameter than the thickness of the actuating shaft 100. The clamping lever 94 is held in a counterclockwise direction by means of a compression spring 204. In the position of the clamping lever 94 shown in FIG. 7, this holds the actuating shaft 100 in place by tilting. By applying a force in the direction of arrow G by means of the release link 96, see FIG. 6, this canting is released by pivoting the clamping lever 94 clockwise and the actuating shaft 100 is released, which is displaced upward by the compression spring 194.

The operation of the stitching head 28 will now be described in connection with FIGS. 10 to 15. These figures show parts of the stitching head 28 during various phases of a work cycle. The corresponding parts of the stitching head 28 in these figures are numbered the same as in Figures 7 to 9 and are therefore not explained in more detail. In the support 14 (FIGS. 12 to 15), the bending plunger 114 is guided so that it can be moved up and down in the direction of the arrow E. Two benders 206 pivotably supported on the support 14 are supported on it, cf. also FIG. 6.

In FIG. 10, the stamp 130 is in its rest position, which is also shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The plunger 80 with its plunger head 158 is also in the rest position. The stitching head 28 moves past the feed wheel 42 of the wire section dispenser 30 (cf. FIG. 1) and takes over a wire section 38 from the holding member 44 of the feed wheel 42 by means of entrainment lugs 138. This wire section 38 is made by means of the permanent magnets, not shown in this figure 140 held on the punch arms 128. The web connecting the two punch arms 128 to one another is shown at 132. In FIG. 11, the stitching head 28 is located in the area of the die 98 (see FIG. 5), the stamp 130 still being in its rest position. As the stitching head 28 slides along the die 98, the wire section 38 is bent into a U-shape to form a clamp 104, the lateral arms 104 ′ sliding into the grooves 136 of the punch arms 128. The actuating shaft 100 is brought into its lower end position shown in FIG. 9 by the action of the pivot link 102 on the sliding block 200, as a result of which the plunger 130 is pivoted into the clamp setting position 130 ′ shown in FIGS. 9 and 12. In the course of this pivoting movement, the punch arms 128 engage in the area 148 of their thickening 134 in the grooves 148 of the clamp holding member 146, as a result of which the lateral arms 104 ′ are held in the grooves 136. 144 denotes the pivot levers to which the clamp guide member 146 is attached. The plunger head 158 of the plunger 80 is also in the clamp setting position 130 'of the plunger 130 between the two plunger arms 128, but in the area between the shaft 120 and the thickened portions 134. When the tappet link 78 acts on the tappet 80, the tappet 80 is pushed against the support 14 in the direction of the arrow F, as shown in FIG. The guide wedges 160 formed laterally on the plunger head 158 slide into the grooves 136 of the stamp arms 128 located in the clamp setting position 130 '. The clamp 104 is ejected from the stamp 130 with the push groove 162, the lateral arms 104' simultaneously being pressed onto the support 14 stored printed sheets 20 are pushed. When the plunger 80 is lowered, it slides on the wedge surface 154 'of the clip guide lug 154, as a result of which the clip holding member 146 attached to the pivot levers 144 is pivoted clockwise (see FIG. 9). The clip guide lug 154 holds the lateral arms 104 'of the clip 104 in the grooves 136 until the clip 104 is inserted into the printed sheets 120 and the clip guide lug 154 is pivoted out of the area of the grooves 136. As a result of the subsequent lifting of the bending plunger 114 in the direction of arrow E, the bending units 206 are pivoted upwards, which has the consequence that the portions of the lateral arms 104 'projecting into the region of the bending units 206 are bent toward one another (FIG. 14). The plunger 80 is still held in the lower end position by the plunger link 78. After the plunger 80 has run from the plunger link 78, it moves back into the upper rest position under the force of the compression spring 166, as shown in FIG. By lowering the bending plunger 114 in the direction of arrow E, the bending machine 206 is also pivoted back into its original position. When the stitching head 28 passes the release link 96, the actuating shaft 100 is released by the clamping lever 94, which pivots of the stamp 130 back into the rest position.

In FIGS. 16 and 17, the wire section dispensers 30 indicated in FIG. 5 and assigned to the two stitching head arrangements 24 are shown enlarged. Each of these wire section dispensers 30 is constructed in the same way as the wire section dispenser 30 shown in FIG. 1. The cutting device 32 is driven by a rotating toothed belt 208. A pair of conveyor rollers 210 conveys the wire 36 clamped between them step by step in the direction of the arrow H. A cutting knife 212 which can be moved up and down in the direction of the arrow I separates a wire section 38 from the wire 36 by lowering after each conveying movement of the wire 36. Downstream from the cutting device 32, the magazine 40 is arranged downstream of the cutting knife 212. It has an essentially slit-shaped stacking shaft 214 running approximately in the vertical direction, in which the wire sections 38 falling therein can be stacked one above the other with a longitudinal extension running essentially in the horizontal direction.

At the upper end of the stacking shaft 214 there is a pre-stacking device 216 with a tongue 218 which can be moved into the area of the stacking shaft 214 and can be withdrawn from it. With the tongue 218 retracted into the region of the stacking shaft 214, a number of wire sections 38 separated from the wire 36 by means of the cutting device 32 are stacked. By briefly withdrawing the tongue 218, these stacked wire sections 38 then fall together into the stacking shaft 214. This prevents the wire sections from being erected and tilted 38 during the free fall and guarantees a clean stacking of the wire sections 38 in the stacking shaft 214.

The two conveyor wheels 42 arranged below the magazines 40 are non-rotatably seated on a common bearing shaft 224 which is rotatably mounted on a pair of support levers 222. The two conveyor wheels 42 are driven to rotate in the direction of arrow V by a drive device 228 acting on the bearing shaft 224 via a drive belt 226.

Each conveyor wheel 42 has two parallel disks 230 spaced apart from one another, between which the holding members 44 are arranged along the circumference at certain intervals. The holding members are U-shaped and have at their free ends which are directed outward in the radial direction over the periphery of the disks 230, protruding flanks 232. In a similar manner, as described in connection with the stitching head 28, a permanent magnet arrangement is provided on the holding members 44 in order to hold the wire sections 38 released from the stacking shaft 214 by the driver flanks 232 as they pass the magazine 40.

The stapling heads 28 are spaced further apart than the holding members 44. Accordingly, the peripheral speed of the feed wheels 42 is lower than the rotational speed of the stapling heads 28, so that the next stapling head 28 meets the next holding member 44. The stitching head 28 thus runs past the holding member 44 and pulls with the ones arranged on the punch arms 128 Driver lugs 138 from the holding member 44 from the relevant wire section 38 and holds it by means of the permanent magnet 140 on the punch 130. The holding members 44 are arranged in a generally known manner to be displaceable and spring-loaded in the radial direction in order to be able to take up tolerances and to ensure secure takeover of the wire sections 38 from the stacking shaft 214 and transfer to the stitching heads 28.

The mode of operation of the stapling station 22 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 will now be explained with the aid of FIGS. 18 to 24.

The initial region of the driver link 92 is shown in FIG. When rotating in the direction of arrow U, the follower rollers 86 of the drivers 82 run onto the driver link 92, which has the consequence that the drivers 82, which are guided on the holding part 68 in a radial direction, are lowered onto the relevant supports 14 of the collecting drum 10. The V-shaped driver profiles 84 encompass the supports 14. This has the consequence that the stitching heads 28 arranged on the support profile 62 and not shown in FIG. 18 are precisely aligned with respect to the assigned support 14 or the printed sheets 20 placed thereon. Furthermore, the drive of the holding arrangement 52 takes place exclusively by being carried along by the catches 82 which are in engagement with the supports 14. The catches 82 are lowered onto the supports 14 only in the upper region of the orbit of the collecting drum 10, so that the means of the Stapling station 22 stapled printed sheets 20 in the direction of the axis of rotation 12 through the now Pads 14 and driver profiles 84 spaced apart from one another can be conveyed away, or the printed sheets 20 to be stapled can be brought into the area of the stapling station 22.

In the following, a stitching head 28 is now traced in the course of one revolution of the holding arrangement 52, starting at the wire section dispenser 30. When the stitching heads 28 pass the wire section dispenser, they are in their outer rest position, seen in the radial direction, in which they are spaced apart from the supports 14. Furthermore, the punches 130 are pivoted back into the rest position, so that the free ends of the punch arms 128 are directed towards the outside, as seen in the radial direction. When the stapling head 28 runs past the relevant holding member 44 of the feed wheel 42, the wire section 38 fed from the holding member 44 is detached from it by the driving lugs 138 and taken along (FIG. 19).

In the course of further rotation in the direction of arrow U, the stitching heads 28 reach the area of the die 98, as shown in FIG. 20. As seen in the direction of arrow U, the distance between the link-shaped die 8 and the shaft 120 decreases, so that when the punch 130 is in the rest position, the wire section 38 in question is bent into a clamp 104 and pushed into the grooves 136 of the punch arms 128 (FIG. 20 ). When the swivel link 102 is reached, the slide shoe 200 runs onto it, which has the consequence that the actuating shaft 100 is pressed inward in the direction of arrow F in the radial direction. This translational movement of the actuating shaft 100 is via the pinion 190 in a pivoting movement of the shaft 120 implemented. The result of this is that the plunger 130 is pivoted counterclockwise by 180 ° from its rest position into the clamp setting position 130 ', after which the free ends of the plunger arms 128 now face the supports 14 in the radial direction toward the inside. The actuating shaft 100 is held in its lower end position against the force of the compression spring 194 (see FIG. 7) by the clamping lever 202 (FIG. 21). In the course of the further rotation in the direction of arrow U, when the driver link 92 is reached, the drivers 82 are lowered onto the supports 14, as described above. The follow rollers 74 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) then reach the area of the pair of lowering blocks 76, as a result of which the support profile 62 with the stitching heads 28 arranged thereon is lowered by a certain amount in the direction against the supports 14. The support member 118 with its pressing noses 170 comes to rest on the printed sheets 20 astride the supports 14. It should be noted that the pressing noses 170 hold the printed sheets 20, in the direction of the support 14, in front of and behind the clip 104 and on both sides thereof, which leads to a particularly clean stitching. It should also be noted that the support part 118 is displaced with respect to the bearing arrangement 172 fixed to the support profile 62 depending on the thickness of the printed sheets 20. This ensures clean stitching of sheets 20 of different thicknesses without the device having to be readjusted (see FIG. 22).

In the case of stitching heads 28 resting on the printing sheet 20, these are conveyed against the ram backdrop 78. The runs in a first section 78 'seen in the direction of the arrow U. Ram slide 78 with a decreasing distance to the orbit of the pads 14 (Fig. 23). In this area, the plunger 80 is lowered in the direction against the printed sheets 20, as a result of which the clip 104 is ejected from the stamp 130 and placed in the printed sheets 20. In a section 78 ″ adjoining section 78 ′, the ram link 78 runs at a constant distance with respect to the supports 14. In this section, the ram head 158 presses the clamp 104 firmly against the printed sheets 20. This prevents the clamp 104 from retreating when the lateral arms 104 'are bent as a result of the bending plunger 114 being raised in the direction of the arrow E and the associated pivoting of the bender 206 (cf. also FIGS. 12 to 15).

After the clamp 104 has been set and the lateral arms 104 'have been bent, the plunger 80 slides back into its outer rest position, as seen in the radial direction, under the action of the compression spring 166 and the distance from the supporting part 118 which increases in the end region of the plunger link 78.

Following the ram link 78, the distance of the pair of lowering links 76 increases with respect to the holding arrangement 52, which has the consequence that the stitching heads 28 are lifted off the supports 14 or the printed sheets 20 attached to them. This is shown in FIG. 24. As the rotation continues, the stitching heads come into the area of the release link 96, which pivots the clamping lever 94 in a clockwise direction. This releases the actuating shaft 100 so that it is pushed outwards in the radial direction F in the direction of arrow F under the force of the compression spring 194 (see FIG. 7). This now in turn causes the stamp 130 to pivot back out of its clamp setting position 130 'into the rest position in the clockwise direction. The stitching heads 28 are now ready to take over a new wire from the wire section dispenser 30. As the collecting drum 10 continues to rotate, the stapled printed sheets 20 are now conveyed in the direction of the rotational axis 12 away from the area of the stapling station 22 to a removal station (not shown).

By separating the wire section preparation from the stitching heads 28, these can be constructed very simply. Moreover, only a single wire section dispenser 30 is required per stitching head arrangement 24, which reduces the expenditure to a minimum. In addition, the wire section dispenser 30 can be removed from the area in which the clips 104 are placed in the printed sheets 20. As a result, there is sufficient time for the preparation of the clips 104 in the area between the wire section dispenser 30 and the clip setting area. In the case of stapling heads with pivotable stamps 130, the staples 104 can be prepared in a position different from the staple setting position 130 ', which means that the various functions of the stapling heads 28 are spatially separated from one another; this in turn has the consequence that the stitching heads 28 are simply constructed with small dimensions.

Of course, the die can be provided for bending the wire section 38 into a clamp 104 on each stitching head 28 itself. This has an eccentric shape to the shaft, so that in the course of the pivoting movement of the plunger 130 from its rest division into the stapling division 130 'the bracket 104 is formed. Such a die could be formed on the clip holding member 146 clockwise in particular as a change.

It is of course also possible for the drivers to be arranged on the stitching heads, so it is entirely conceivable that the pressing tabs 170 serve as drivers. A separate drive for the stapling station 22 is no longer necessary and synchronization problems between the rotation of the collecting drum 10 and the stapling head arrangements 24 have been eliminated.

Of course, the traction element or the holding arrangement 52 can be driven in a rotating manner by means of its own drive motor. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the wire section dispenser has an interchangeable magazine, or that the wire sections are fed directly to the stitching heads by the cutting device.

Finally, it should also be mentioned that the stamps 130 can be in a wire transfer position that is different from the rest position for the wire transfer. However, the wire takeover position does not correspond to the clamp setting position 130 '. The wire sections 38 run essentially parallel to the pivot axis 122.

Stapling heads which are particularly suitable for devices for collecting printed sheets according to the invention are described in the simultaneous EP-A-0 399 322 and US-A-5,098,002.

A device according to the invention, in which a stitching head is permanently assigned to each support, also allows the stitching heads of a stitching head arrangement to be mutually offset in the longitudinal direction of the supports. For example, every second stitching head can be slightly offset with respect to the other stitching heads arranged in one plane; the two groups of stitching heads then advantageously each pass their own wire section dispenser. When the stapled sheets are stacked, not all of the staples come to lie on top of one another.

Claims (10)

Device for collecting folded printed sheets, with saddle-shaped supports (14) circulating along a closed orbit, with longitudinal extension parallel to one another in at least one section of the orbit and essentially perpendicular to the circumferential direction (U), on which at least two are arranged at a distance from one another Feeding stations printing sheets (20) can be laid astride one another, with a stapling station (22) connected downstream of the feeding stations and provided in the mentioned section of the orbit with at least one stapling head arrangement (24) with a plurality of supports (14) running one behind the other, essentially at a distance from one another with parallel longitudinal extension arranged, essentially in a plane running transversely to the supports (14) and during stapling, moving stitching heads (28) synchronously with the supports (14) for placing staples (104) in the printed sheets (20) deposited on the supports (14) ), as well as with Mit means for forming the staples (104) from essentially straight wire sections (38) held by the stitching heads (28), and with a removal station for conveying away the stitched printed sheets (20), characterized in that the stitching heads (28) along a closed path , in the case of a wire section dispenser (30) and in the orbit of the supports (14) passing motion path (26) at a substantially same speed and in the orbit in the same direction (U, U ') as the pads (14) circulate, the wire section dispenser (38) is arranged on the other side of the orbit of the pads (14) with respect to the movement path (26), and each stitching head (28) has means for this are designed, in their takeover position facing the wire section dispenser (30), to take over a wire section (38) from the latter and to bring it into a clip setting position (130) facing the orbit of the supports (14). Device according to claim 1, characterized in that each stitching head (28) has an axis (122) extending from a rest position into the staple setting position (130 ') and again about an essentially perpendicular to the direction of rotation (U, U') of the stitching head (28) has swiveling stamp (130) in order to take over the wire section (38) from the wire section dispenser (30) by means of the stamp (130) in the take-over position, which preferably corresponds to the rest position, and to bring it into the clip-setting position (130). Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the wire section dispenser (30) is spaced in the direction of the movement path (26) from the setting area (D, D ') of the clamps (104). Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the means for forming the clips (104), viewed in the direction of rotation (U, U ') of the stitching heads (28), in an area downstream of the wire section dispenser (30) onto the wire sections (38) have acting matrix (98). Device according to claim 2 and 4, characterized in that the die for each stitching head has a bending link arranged on it, which acts on the wire section in the course of the swiveling movement of the stamp from the takeover into the staple setting position. Device according to claims 2 and 4, characterized in that the die forms a bending link (98), which is arranged between the wire section dispenser (30) and the clip-setting area (D, D ') and runs along the movement path (26), for forming a clip (104) has the wire section (38) carried by the punch (130), which is held in the region of the bending link (98) and is essentially non-rotatable. Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the stitching heads (28) for setting the clips (104) run in an extended area (D) common to them along the orbit of the pads (14). Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the movement path (24) is substantially circular. Device according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the supports (14) are arranged like a drum around a common axis of rotation (12). Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that in the supports (14) bending elements (206) for bending the lateral arms (104 ') of the clamps (104) which are pierced by the printed sheets (20).

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