Binder Assembly

Abstract

An improved binder assembly includes a collator for grouping sheets into unfolded signatures or gathers which are sequentially moved by a continuously operating conveyor to a pickup station. Each gather is transferred from the pickup station to a stitching station by a shuttle assembly. The shuttle assembly moves the gather forwardly past a register member or gauge finger and then moves the gather in a reverse direction toward the register member to cause the gather to engage the register member and be positioned in a predetermined relationship with a stitcher. Next, the unfolded gather is either saddle or sidestitched along a stitch line extending transversely to the path of movement of the shuttle assembly. Finally, the stitched gather is pushed into a folder assembly by the shuttle assembly as the next gather is moved by the shuttle assembly toward the stitching station. The folder assembly is selectively capable of folding or not folding the stitched gather.

Description

This invention relates to 48 the gather binder assembly which is corner stitched of either side or saddle stitching unfolded flat collated gathers.

A known binder system uses one machine to fold sheets which are then collated and saddle stitched by another machine. Due to the fact that the binder system folds the sheets before they are stitched the second machine can perform only saddle stitching operations. The relatively limited operational capability and high cost of this known binder system has resulted in its being used primarily in printing shops having a relatively large volume of saddle stitched work. Another known binder assembly utilizes an intermittently operated conveyor to move unfolded sheets to a stitching station where they are either saddle or side stitched. This binder assembly has not received general acceptance in the industry, probably because of its relatively slow operating speed and difficulty in consistently obtaining proper registration between the sheets of a gather to be stitched and the stitcher. The probable registration difficulties are believed to be inherent in the intermittent operation of the conveyor assembly and the resulting repeated acceleration and deceleration of the sheets. This also limits the speed at which the mechanism can effectively operate.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved versatile binder assembly which is relatively inexpensive and is capable of high speed operation on either saddle or side stitching unfolded collated sheets wherein the entire operation is performed by a single machine.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved binder assembly and method which consistently maintains proper registration between gathers of sheet material during high speed saddle and side stitching operations.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved inline binder assembly which is compact, easily assembled, reliable in operation and relatively inexpensive.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved binder assembly and method of operation which includes continuously operating a conveyor to transport unfolded gathers to a pickup station and reciprocating a shuttle assembly to transfer the gathers to a stitcher station and effect registration of the unfolded gathers relative to a stitcher assembly which is selectively operable to either side or saddle stitch the gathers.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved binder assembly and method wherein a shuttle moves a gather or signature past a registration stop associated with a stitcher and then reverses the direction of movement of the gather to cause a trailing edge portion of the gather to engage the registration stop to thereby consistently effect proper registration of gathers with the stitcher during high speed operation of the binder assembly.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved binder assembly and method wherein a reciprocatable shuttle is operable to push a previously stitched gather away from a stitching station while transporting another gather to the stitching station.

These and other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent upon a consideration of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial schematic illustration of a binder assembly forming a preferred embodiment of the invention, parts of the binder assembly being broken away and some of the covering panels removed for purposes of clarity of illustration;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial schematic plan view, taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1, further illustrating the structure of the binder assembly;

FIGS. 3--6 are schematic illustrations depicting the transfer of a group of sheets or gather from a pickup station to a stitching station where the gather is saddle-stitched;

FIGS. 7--9 depict schematically the movement of a next succeeding gather away from the pickup station toward the stitching station and the movement of a previously saddle-stitched gather from the stitching station into a folder mechanism;

FIGS. 10--13 schematically illustrate the saddle stitching of a relatively small gather;

FIGS. 14--17 schematically illustrate the side stitching of a relatively large gather;

FIGS. 18--20 schematically illustrate the movement of a next succeeding gather toward the stitching station where it will be side stitched and the movement of a previously side stitched gather into the folder mechanism;

FIG. 21 is a schematic illustration of a drive mechanism for a shuttle assembly which transfers the gathers from the pickup station to the stitching station;

FIG. 22 illustrates an adjustable coupling which interconnects a collator drive and a drive for the shuttle assembly, stitcher assembly, and folder mechanism; and

FIG. 23 is a schematic illustration of a folder mechanism for folding saddle-stitched gathers.

The present invention provides a versatile inline binder assembly 30 which is selectively operable to saddle, side or corner stitch unfolded collated groups of sheets or gathers. The binder assembly 30 includes a flat sheet collator 32 having a series of transfer stations (only one of which is partially illustrated in FIG. 1) for transferring unfolded sheets of material from a stack 34 to a support surface or tray 36. The sheets of material are deposited in a flat, face-to-face relationship on the support surface 36 and are engaged by fingers 38 of a collator conveyor 40 which is continuously operated at a constant speed. The fingers 38 of the conveyor 40 shove the gathers along the support surface 36 to a pickup station 44 where each gather is clampingly engaged in turn by a reciprocatable shuttle assembly 46 and transferred to a stitching station 48.

At the stitching station 48 the gather is saddle, side or corner stitched along a transversely extending stitch line by a stitcher assembly 56 (a saddle stitch being formed by the stitches 50 and 52 in FIG. 1). The stitched gather is then moved from the stitching station 48 into a folder mechanism 60 where the gather is folded, in the case of a saddle-stitched gather, along the stitch line and trimmed along a transversely extending surface or face by a trimmer knife 62. A belt conveyor 64 then transfers the stitched and folded gather to a receiving station 66. The folder mechanism 60 is selectively adjustable between an operative position or condition wherein saddle-stitched gathers are folded along the stitch line and an inoperative or bypass position or condition wherein side or corner stitched gathers pass through the folder mechanism without being folded.

The flat sheet collator 32 transfers unfold sheets of material from a series of piles or stacks 34, only one of which is partially shown in FIG. 1, to the support surface 36 to form gathers or signatures each of which includes one sheet from each stack of the series of stacks. To this end, a plurality of sucker heads 70 are provided at each of a plurality of transfer stations located in a spaced apart relationship along the longitudinally extending support surface 36. The sucker heads 70 are connected by vacuum lines 72 to a source of vacuum or relatively low pressure. Movement of an arm 76 reciprocates each of the sucker heads 70 from a position engaging the uppermost sheet on the stack 34 to a forward position where the sheets engaged by the sucker heads are directly over the support surface 36. The vacuum to each of the sucker heads 70 is then shut off and the sheets are deposited on either the support surface 36 or a gather. Although only the sucker head 70 for the last transfer station of the series of transfer stations is shown in FIG. 1, it will be understood that there are a plurality of similar stations having similar sucker heads which are connected to a support bar 80 for movement simultaneously with the sucker head 70. Thus, one sheet from each of a plurality of stacks of sheets is transferred from the associated stack of sheets to the support surface 36 or a gather with each forward stroke of the arm 76.

The groups of sheets or gathers are continuously moved along the support surface 36 so that each gather is moved in turn past each of the transfer stations and receives a sheet from a stack 34 of sheets associated with the transfer station. This continuous movement of the series of gathers results from the action of the collator conveyor 40 which includes an endless chain 84 having an upper run which is continuously moved in a forward or downstream direction, indicated by the arrow 86 in FIG. 1, at a substantially constant speed to maintain the fingers 38 in engagement with the gathers as they are continuously moved toward the pickup station 44. The fingers 38 maintain the trailing edges of the sheets of each gather in registration as the gathers are moved along the longitudinally extending support surface 36. The longitudinally extending support surface 36 slopes transversely downwardly toward a longitudinally extending guide rail or section 88 to maintain longitudinally extending lower edge portions of the sheets of each gather in registration. Since the general construction of the flat sheet collator 32 is known to those skilled in the art, it is believed that a further description of the structure of the collator is not necessary at this time.

The reciprocatable shuttle assembly 46 clampingly engages each gather in turn at the pickup station 44 and moves the gather toward the stitching station 48 where an edge portion of the gather is brought into engagement with a registration finger 90 to position the gather in a predetermined relationship relative to stapler or stitcher heads 94 and 96 of the stitcher assembly 56. While the stitcher assembly 56 is stapling or stitching a gather positioned at the stitching station 48, the shuttle assembly 46 is moved back toward the pickup station 44 to engage the next gather of the series of gathers which are continuously being moved toward the pickup station 44 by the collator conveyor 40. A drive mechanism 100 reciprocates or moves the shuttle assembly back and forth between the pickup station 44 and the stitching station 48 at a speed which, during the major portion of each stroke of the shuttle assembly 46, is substantially greater than the constant speed at which the collator conveyor 40 is continuously operated. This enables the shuttle assembly 46 to complete a forward stroke from the pickup station 44 to the stitching station 48 and a reverse or return stroke from the stitching station to the pickup station while the next succeeding gather is being moved to the pickup station by the collator conveyor 40.

A control assembly 102 is provided for actuating the shuttle assembly 46 between a closed or clamping condition and an open or release condition. When a gather is being transferred from the pickup station 44 to the stitching station 48 the shuttle assembly is in the closed condition and an upper gripper or clamp bar 106 is pressed toward a lower gripper or clamp bar (not shown) by a biasing spring to securely hold the gather between the gripper bars. When the shuttle assembly 46 reaches the stitching station 48, the control assembly 102 operates it to the open condition wherein the upper and lower gripper bars are spaced apart to enable the gather to be released and deposited at the stitching station.

The binder assembly 30 is selectively operable to either corner, saddle or sidestitch different sized gathers of sheet material. The saddle stitching of a relatively large gather 110 of sheet material and a direct mail card 112, which form the first gather in a series of gathers, is illustrated in FIGS. 3--6. As the gather 110 is moved to a position wherein the centerline of the gather is in alignment with the centerline 114 of the pickup station 44, the relatively large gather 110 is clampingly engaged between the upper gripper bar 106 and the lower gripper bar (not shown) of the reciprocatable shuttle assembly 46. When the gather 110 is clampingly engaged, the shuttle assembly 46 is traveling forwardly at a speed which is equal to or greater than the substantially constant forward speed of the collator conveyor 40 (see FIG. 3). The shuttle assembly 46 is then accelerated to a speed which is slightly greater than twice the speed of operation of the collator conveyor 40 to enable the shuttle assembly to transfer the gather to the stitching station 48 and return to the pickup station 44 before the next gather reaches the pickup station 44. As the shuttle assembly 46 is accelerated toward the stitching station, the trailing edge portion 116 of the gather 110 moves away from the finger 38 of the collator conveyor 40 to allow the finger to be moved downwardly along an arcuate path through a slot 120 in the support surface 36 without damaging the gather 110 (See FIGS. 2 and 4).

While the gather 110 is being moved forwardly by the shuttle assembly 46, a leading edge portion 124 of the gather moves into engagement with an arcuate, rearward cam surface 126 of the registration finger 90 (see FIG. 1). The registration finger 90 is pivotally mounted at 130 to enable the registration finger to be pivoted downwardly against the influence of a counterbalance weight or spring by the action of the leading edge portion 124 on the cam surface 126. This enables the gather 110 to pass over the registration finger, in the manner illustrated schematically in FIG. 4, by forcing the registration finger 90 downwardly to an inoperative or retracted position. Of course, as the gather is moved past the registration finger 90 it pivots upwardly to the operative or extended position of FIGS. 1 and 5. After the gather 110 has been moved forwardly past the registration finger 90, the gather is moved in the reverse or upstream direction to bring the trailing edge portion 116 of the gather into engagement with a stop or registering surface 134 on the finger 90. The stop surface 134 registers or positions the gather 110 in a predetermined relationship relative to the stitcher heads 94 and 96 of the stitcher assembly 56. While in the present embodiment of the invention the trailing edge portion 116 of the gather 110 is used in effecting registration of the gather, it is contemplated that in other embodiments of the invention the leading edge portion 124 of the gather may be used in effecting registration of the gather.

In view of the foregoing description it can be seen that as the clamp assembly 46 moves forwardly, from the position shown in FIG. 3 through the position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. 5, the gather 110 is moved across the registration finger 90 and the registration finger is first pivoted downwardly by the gather and then released to pivot upwardly to its normal or operative condition. The shuttle drive mechanism 100 (FIGS. 1 and 2) then reverses the direction of movement of the shuttle assembly 46 to move the shuttle assembly in the upstream direction while maintaining clamping engagement with the gather 110. The gather is released while the trailing edge portion 116 of the gather is spaced apart from the stop surface 134 of the registration finger 90. Due to the momentum of the gather, the upstream or reverse movement of the gather 110 continues, even though the gather has been released by the shuttle assembly 46. This movement brings the gather 110 into abutting engagement with the stop surface 134 of the registration finger 90 and thereby positions the gather in a predetermined location relative to the stitcher heads 94 and 96. A retaining means, in the form of a wheel 140 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) presses the gather downwardly against the support surface 36 to prevent the gather from bouncing or moving away from the registration finger 90 once the gather has been brought into engagement with the stop surface 134 of the registration finger. It should be noted that the gather 110 is positioned or registered transversely relative to the stitcher heads 94 and 96 by the longitudinally extending guide section 88 along which the gather slides.

When the gather 110 is positioned in registration with the stitcher heads 94 and 96, the centerline of the gather 110 is in alignment with a transversely extending stitch line, indicated at 148 in FIG. 6. Therefore, operation of the stitcher assembly results in the gather 110 being saddle-stitched along its centerline. The direct mail card 112 extends past the centerline of the gather 110 and is engaged by one of the stitches to securely interconnect the mail card and the sheets of the gather. The stitcher assembly 56 is operated by downward movement of a pair of opposite drive arms 152 and 154 (see FIG. 1) which are connected at their upper ends to a stitcher actuating bar 156 and at their lower ends to a crank assembly 158 for reciprocating the drive arms 152 and 154 and the actuating bar 156 to operate the stitcher heads 94 and 96. Operation of the stitcher heads 94 and 96 staples or stitches the gather with wire obtained from a pair of supply coils 160.

The shuttle assembly 46 continues its reverse or return stroke toward the pickup station 44 while the stitcher assembly 56 is stitching the gather 110 at the stitching station 48. After the shuttle assembly 46 has reached the pickup station and been accelerated to a forward speed which is at least as great as the forward speed of the finger 38, the shuttle assembly 46 clampingly engages a next succeeding gather 162 at the pickup station 44 (see FIG. 7). As the forward movement of the shuttle assembly 46 and gather 162 is continued, the previously stitched gather 110 is moved away from the stitching station 48 to clear the stitching station for the depositing of the gather 162. To this end, a pusher head or section 166 on the gripper bar 106 is brought into engagement with the trailing edge portion 116 of the gather 110 (see FIG. 8) to push the gather into the nip of a pair of input rollers 170 and 172 (see FIG. 23) of the folder mechanism 60. The input rollers 170 and 172 are operated at a relatively high speed so that as the leading edge portion 124 of the gather 110 is engaged by the rollers, the gather 110 is moved forwardly away from the pusher head 166 of the shuttle assembly 46 in a manner shown schematically in FIG. 9. Although the pusher head 166 is advantageously formed as a part of the gripper bar 106, it is contemplated that the pusher head or section could be connected to other portions of the shuttle assembly 46.

A transversely adjustable upper guide member 176 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) cooperates with the upper edge portion of the gather 110 to prevent the gather from cocking or tending to rotate as it is moved forwardly by the pusher head 166 of the shuttle assembly 46. The forward movement of the shuttle assembly is then continued from the position shown in FIG. 9 through the position shown in FIG. 5 to the position shown in FIG. 6 to locate the gather 162 with its centerline along the stitch line 148. Of course, the gather 162 is then saddle-stitched as the shuttle assembly completes its return stroke to the pickup station 44 to engage the next succeeding gather.

The saddle stitching of a gather 180 of relatively small sheets is illustrated schematically in FIGS. 10--13 which correspond generally to FIGS. 3--6 wherein the saddle stitching of a gather 110 of relatively large sheets is illustrated. With either of the gathers 110 or 180, it is necessary during a saddle stitching operation to position the gather under the stitcher assembly 56 with the center line of the gather in alignment with the stitch line 148 of the stitcher assembly. To obtain this positioning of the relatively small gather 180 relative to the stitch line 148, the relationship between the collator conveyor 40 and the shuttle assembly 46 is changed so that the gather 180 is positioned at the pickup station 44 with the centerline of the relatively small gather 180 in alignment with the centerline 114 of the pickup station 44 when the gather 180 is clampingly engaged by the shuttle assembly 46. Since the centerline of the relatively large gather 110 was also in alignment with the centerline 114 of the pickup station 44 when the gather was engaged by the shuttle assembly 46, the relationship between the collator conveyor 40 and shuttle assembly must be adjusted when changing from relatively large gathers to relatively small gathers so that the fingers 38 of the collator conveyor 40 move the small gathers through a larger distance to center the small gathers relative to the pickup station 44 before the shuttle assembly engages the small gathers. By having the small gathers centered relative to the pickup station 44 when they are engaged by the shuttle assembly 46, the centerlines of the small gathers are in the same position relative to the gripper bar 106 of the shuttle assembly 46 as were the centerlines of the relatively large gathers 110. Therefore, both the relatively small and the relatively large gathers will be released at the stitching station 48 by the shuttle assembly 46 with their centerlines aligned with the stitch line 148 of the stitcher assembly 56.

To enable the relationship between the collator conveyor 40 and the shuttle assembly 46 to be adjusted, the drive for the collator conveyor 40 is connected to the drive for the shuttle assembly 46 by an adjustable coupling 184 which is best seen in FIG. 22. By releasing the adjustable coupling 184, the relative positions between each of the fingers 38 of the collator conveyor 40 and the gripper bar 106 of the shuttle assembly 46 can be adjusted. Therefore, when a finger 38 is pushing a relatively small gather 180, the finger advances the gather through a somewhat larger distance before the shuttle assembly 46 engages the gather than when moving the relatively large gather 110. The structure of the adjustable coupling 184 will be more fully described subsequently in connection with FIG. 22.

After the shuttle assembly 46 has clampingly engaged the relatively small gather 180, the gather is moved forwardly through the position shown in FIG. 11, past the registration finger 90, to the position shown in FIG. 12. The gather 180 is then accelerated in the reverse direction and released by the clamp assembly 46 to enable the gather to engage the stop surface 134 of the registration finger 90 in much the same manner as previously explained in connection with the relatively large gather 110. However, it should be noted that the registration finger 90 has been moved downstream toward the stitcher assembly 56 from the position in which it was located in FIGS. 3--6. Therefore, when a trailing edge portion 188 of the gather 180 engages the registration finger 90, the centerline of the relatively small gather 180 is in alignment with the stitch line 148 of the stitcher assembly 56 so that the stitcher heads 94 and 96 stitch the gather 180 along its center line. Thus by adjusting the position of the registration finger 90 and the relationship between the shuttle assembly 46 and collator conveyor 40, the binder assembly 30 can be used to saddle stitch gathers of various sizes.

The side stitching of the first gather 192 of a series of gathers is illustrated in FIGS. 14--17. When a gather is to be side stitched, it is oriented with the front cover sheet upwardly and in an upside-down position as viewed from a control panel 194 (FIGS. 1 and 2) of the binder assembly 30 so that the clinched ends of the stitches or staples will be at the back of the gather. Before beginning a side stitching operation, the relationship between the shuttle assembly 46 and collator conveyor 40 is adjusted so that the gather 192 is moved forwardly through a relatively large distance by the finger 38 of the collator conveyor before the gather is engaged by the shuttle assembly 46. This relatively large movement of the gather 192 by the collator conveyor 40 is necessary to position the gather with the sidestitch line of the gather in alignment with the centerline 114 of the pickup station 44, as shown in FIG. 14. As a result of positioning the sidestitch line of the gather 192 in alignment with the centerline 114 of the pickup station 44, the shuttle assembly 46 grips the gather 192 with the sidestitch line in the same position relative to the gripper bar 106 of the shuttle assembly 46 as were the saddle stitch lines of the gathers 110 and 180.

For a side stitching operation, the registration finger 90 is moved downstream from position shown in FIGS. 10--13 so that it is relatively close to the stitch line 148 of the stitcher assembly 56. The sidestitch line of the gather 192 will then be in alignment with the stitch line 148 when a trailing edge portion 196 of the gather is in engagement with the registration finger 90 (see FIG. 17). Thus, by adjusting the position of the registration finger 90 relative to the stitcher assembly 56 and by adjusting the relationship between the shuttle assembly 46 and collator conveyor 40, the binder assembly 30 can be used to perform either saddle or side stitching operations.

During a side stitching operation, the shuttle assembly 46 clampingly engages the gather 192 while traveling forwardly at substantially the same speed as the speed at which the gather 192 is moving under the influence of the collator conveyor 40. The drive mechanism 100 then accelerates the shuttle assembly 46 to move the gather 192 away from the finger 38 of the collator conveyor 40 and toward the stitching station 48 (see FIG. 15). As the forward movement of the shuttle assembly 46 continues, it moves the gather 192 past the registration finger 90 (FIG. 16) and then reverses the direction of movement of the gather 192. The gather 192 is then released so that the momentum of the gather in the reverse direction causes the trailing edge portion 196 of the gather to engage the stop surface 134 of the registration finger 90. The gather 192 is then positioned for stitching by the stitcher heads 94 and 96.

While the gather 192 is being stitched, the shuttle assembly 46 returns to the pickup station 44 to engage the next succeeding gather 200 (see FIG. 18). As the shuttle assembly 46 begins its next forward stroke, the pusher head 166 on the gripper arm 106 moves into engagement with the trailing edge portion 196 of the previously side stitched gather 192. The leading edge portion 204 of the side stitched gather 192 is then pushed into engagement with the input rollers 170 and 172 of the folder mechanism 60 by the pusher head 166. Since the input rolls 170 and 172 of the folder 60 are operating at a relatively high speed, the stitched gather 192 is moved forwardly away from the pusher head 166 by the action of the input rollers as the shuttle assembly 46 deposits the gather 200 at the stitching station 48. Since side-stitched gathers are generally used in an unfolded condition, the folder mechanism 60 is adjusted to bypass the side stitched gather 192 without folding it. The manner in which the folder mechanism 60 is adjusted will be more fully disclosed subsequently in connection with FIG. 23.

The binder assembly 30 can also be adjusted to perform corner stitching operations. In a corner stitching operation a single stitch or staple is used to interconnect the sheets of a gather with the staple being located adjacent to a corner of the gather. When the gathers are to be corner stitched, one of the stitcher heads, that is the stitcher head 94, is disabled or removed from the stitcher assembly 56. A single stitch or staple is then applied to each of the gathers in turn by the stitcher head 96 which is moved transversely of the support surface 36 so that is is located near the corner of a gather which is to be stitched. The binder assembly 30 is, in all other respects, operated during a corner stitching operation in the same manner as previously explained for a side stitching operation.

At the beginning of a forward stroke, the drive mechanism accelerates the shuttle assembly 46 quickly to a substantially constant operating speed which is approximately twice as great as the constant speed at which the collator conveyor 40 is continuously operated. At the end of the forward stroke, the drive mechanism 100 reverses the direction of movement of the shuttle assembly 46 and quickly accelerates the shuttle assembly to the same operating speed in the reverse direction. By moving the shuttle assembly at a relatively high constant speed for the majority of the forward and reverse strokes, the drive mechanism 100 enables the shuttle assembly to complete both the forward and reverse strokes before the next gather is moved to the pickup station 44 by the collator conveyor 40 without accelerating the shuttle assembly to extremely high peak velocities.

To provide the foregoing shuttle assembly drive characteristics, the drive mechanism 100 includes an endless chain 210 (see FIGS. 1 and 21) which engages a drive sprocket 214 (FIG. 21) and an idler sprocket 216. One of the links of the chain 210 is connected to the shuttle assembly 46 by a pivotal connector assembly 220. Upon rotation of the drive sprocket 214, the chain 210 is moved along a continuous or circuitous path to reciprocate the connector assembly 220 relative to the support surface 36. This movement of the connector assembly 220 results in the shuttle assembly 46 being accelerated from substantially zero velocity at the beginning of the forward stroke, indicated at 224 in FIG. 21, to a substantially constant operating speed which is maintained as the shuttle assembly moves between the points indicated at 226 and 228 of FIG. 21. The shuttle assembly is then decelerated until it reaches the end of the forward stroke, at the point indicated at 230 in FIG. 21. Continued movement of the endless chain 210 initiates the return or reverse stroke of the shuttle assembly which is accelerated in the reverse direction to the substantially constant operating speed, at the point indicated at 234 in FIG. 21. The substantially constant operating speed of the shuttle assembly 46 is maintained until the shuttle assembly reaches the end portion of the reverse stroke, at the point indicated at 238 in FIG. 21, whereupon the shuttle assembly begins to decelerate until the end of the reverse stroke is reached at the point indicated at 224.

The shuttle assembly 46 should be traveling forwardly at a speed which is at least as great as the speed at which the gathers are traveling under the influence of the collator conveyor 40 when the shuttle assembly grips the gathers at the pickup station 44 to prevent the gathers from being damaged by relative movement between the finger 38 of the collator conveyor 40 and the shuttle assembly. Accordingly, the shuttle assembly 46 firmly grips the gathers after the shuttle assembly has been accelerated during the initial part of its forward stroke. Thus, the shuttle assembly 46 firmly grips the gathers when the connector assembly 220 is at a point indicated at 244 in FIG. 21. The acceleration of both the shuttle assembly and the gather is then continued until the shuttle assembly reaches the substantially constant operating speed or velocity.

The shuttle assembly 46 releases the gather at the beginning of the reverse stroke while the gather is moving in the reverse direction toward the registration finger 90. Therefore, the shuttle assembly 46 is operated to release the gathers when the connector assembly 220 is at a point indicated generally at 248 in FIG. 21. The shuttle assembly 46 remains in the open or released condition until it approaches the end of the reverse stroke and the next forward stroke is imminent. The shuttle assembly 46 then completes its closing or gripping action on the next gather when the connector assembly 200 reaches the point indicated at 244 in FIG. 21.

The control assembly 102 (see FIG. 1) is provided for operating and the shuttle assembly 46 between the open or released condition and the closed or clamping condition. The control assembly 102 is operated by suitable cams to move an operating or actuating bar 250 to actuate the shuttle assembly from the closed condition to the open condition. To this end, the actuator bar 250 extends parallel to and is at least as long as the path of movement of the gathers and is continuously engaged by a roller 252 as the shuttle assembly is reciprocated along the support surface 36. The actuator bar 250 is fixedly connected by arms 256 and 258 to a support bar 260 which is rotated or oscillated by the control assembly 102. Rotation or oscillation of the support bar 260 pivots the actuator bar 250 about the support bar to force the roller 252 inwardly to thereby operate the shuttle assembly to the open condition to release gathers being transported by the shuttle assembly. The structure of the shuttle assembly 46, the drive assembly 100 and the control assembly 102 is generally similar to the structure disclosed in application Ser. No. 727,097 filed by Victor A. Zugel on May 6, 1968 for "Shuttle Assembly." Therefore, it is believed that a further description of these components of the binder assembly 30 is not necessary at this time.

The power for operating the drive mechanism 100, the stitcher assembly 56 and the folder mechanism 60 is transmitted from a collator drive shaft 270 (FIG. 22) through the adjustable coupling 184 to a drive shaft 274 which is connected by a suitable drive train to the drive mechanism 100, the stitcher assembly 56 and the folder mechanism 62. In order that the relationship between the collator conveyor 40 and the shuttle assembly 46 can be varied while maintaining substantially constant the relationship between the shuttle assembly 46, the stitcher assembly 56 and folder mechanism 60, the coupling 184 is releasable to allow relative movement between the shafts 270 and 274. Accordingly, the collator drive shaft 270 is drivingly connected to a cone 276 forming a part of the coupling 184 by a drive train including a sprocket 278 which is connected to the shaft 270, a sprocket 280 which is connected with the cone 276, and an endless drive chain 282. Another cone 286 of the coupling 184 is connected to a sleeve 288 keyed to a rotatable support shaft 290. The sleeve 288 is drivingly connected with the shaft 274 by crown gears 292 and 294. The coupling 184 includes a split clamp 298 which can be loosened to allow the cone sections 276 and 286 to be rotated relative to each other. Rotation of the cone section 286 relative to the cone section 276 results in the shaft 274 being rotated relative to the shaft 270 to effect an adjustment of the relationship between the shuttle assembly 46 and the fingers 38 of the collator conveyor 40. As was previously explained, this adjustment of the relationship between the shuttle assembly 46 and the collator conveyor 40 enables the binder assembly 30 to be used for binding different sized gathers and for performing both saddle stitching and side stitching operations.

When a desired relationship is achieved between the shuttle assembly 46 and collator conveyor 40 by rotating the shaft 274 relative to the shaft 270, the split clamp assembly 298 is tightened to interconnect the cone sections 276 and 286 of the coupling 184 to maintain this relationship during the operation of the binder assembly. In addition to transmitting power for operating the shuttle drive mechanism 100, the stitcher assembly 56, and the folder mechanism 60, the coupling 184 transmits power through the support shaft 290 to rotate cams of the control assembly 102 so that the operation of the shuttle assembly 46 is in a timed relationship with the position of the shuttle assembly relative to the support surface 36. Of course, adjustable couplings of a type other than the one shown in FIG. 22 could, if desired, be used for drivingly interconnecting the collator conveyor 40 and the shuttle assembly 46.

A Since the binder assembly 30 is selectively operable to either saddle stitch gathers which are folded by the folder mechanism 60 along the stitch line or to side or corner stitch gathers which are not folded after stitching, the folder mechanism 60 is adjustable between a first or operating condition wherein gathers received between the input rolls 170 and 172 are folded (see FIG. 23) and a bypass or inoperative condition wherein the folder mechanism 60 is inoperative for folding gathers. Accordingly, the folder mechanism 60 includes a buckle-fold deflector section 300 having a stop 302 which is engaged by the leading edge portion of a saddle-stitched gather when the stitch line of the gather is adjacent to the input rollers 170 and 172. Further rotation of the input rollers 170 and 172 causes the saddle-stitched gather to buckle or bend along the stitch line. The gather then engages the nip between the input roller 170 and a folding roller 306 which move the gather upwardly toward a second set of folding rollers indicated at 308 and 310. A deflector 314 is provided between the rolls 170 and 308 to guide the movement of the folded gather. A second deflector 316 is provided downstream from the folding rollers 308 and 310 for guiding the folded gather into position relative to the trimming knife 62 which trims the face of the folded gather.

Both corner and side stitched gathers are not folded but are normally used in the flat condition in which they are stitched at the stitching station 48. Therefore, the buckle-fold deflector 300 includes a pivotally mounted gate or blocking section 320 which is pivoted downwardly from its normal or blocking position to a bypass or inoperative position (shown in dashed lines) wherein the side and corner stitched gathers pass through the folder mechanism 60 to a receiving conveyor 324 without being folded. Thus when the gate 320 is in the bypass or inoperative position, the buckle-fold deflector 300 is rendered inoperative and side or corner-stitched gathers pass through the folder mechanism 60 without moving downwardly against the adjustable stop 302 and being folded. The general structure of the folder mechanism 60 is similar to that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,747,189 to Fenimor for a "Pamphlet Forming Machine." Therefore, a more complete disclosure of the folder mechanism 60 is not set forth herein.

In view of the foregoing description, it can be seen that the inline binder assembly 30 includes a flat sheet collator 32 having a continuously operated conveyor 40 which transports flat unfolded gathers to a pickup station 44. A reciprocatable shuttle assembly 46, that is a shuttle assembly capable of being reciprocated, engages the gathers at the pickup station 44 and transfers them to a stitching station 48. Since the collator 40 is continuously operated without starting or stopping, the collator conveyor 40 can be operated at a relatively high speed with the trailing edge portion of the gathers maintained in registration by engagement with the finger 38 of the collator conveyor. This registration is maintained while the gathers are being transferred from the pickup station 44 to the stitching station 48 by the clamping action of the shuttle assembly 46. The gather is positioned relative to the stitcher heads 94 and 96 at the stitching station 48 by a reverse movement of the gather which causes a trailing edge portion of the gather to engage the registration finger 90 to thereby consistently effect proper registration of each of the gathers with the stitcher assembly 56 while the binder assembly 30 is being operated at a relatively high speed.

The gathers are stitched at the stitching station 56 along a stitch line extending transversely to the support surface 36 and the path of movement of the shuttle assembly 46. This manner of stitching the gathers enables the binder assembly 30 to be used for saddle, side and corner stitching. When the binder assembly is used for a saddle stitching, the gathers are positioned with their centerlines along the stitch line 148 of the stitching assembly 56. When the gathers are side or corner stitched they are positioned with their trailing edges closely adjacent to the stitch line 148 of the stitching assembly 56.

Although the collator conveyor 40 is operated at a relatively high speed, the shuttle assembly is operated at a still higher speed which enables the shuttle assembly to accelerate a gather to the shuttle assembly operating speed, deposit the gather at the stitching station 48 while effecting registration of the gather relative to the stitcher assembly 56 and return to the pickup station while the collator conveyor 40 is moving the next succeeding gather to the pickup station 44. The folder assembly 60 is operated at an even higher speed than is the shuttle assembly 46 to enable a stitched gather to be moved away from the shuttle assembly 46 under the influence of input rollers of the folder mechanism 60 as the stitched gather is being pushed from the stitching station 48 into the folder mechanism 60 by the pusher head 166 of the shuttle assembly.

Claims

We claim:

1. An assembly for use in interconnecting a plurality of sheets of material, said assembly comprising conveyor means for continuously moving collated sheets of material, reciprocatable shuttle means for transferring the sheets of material from said conveyor means to a stitching station, registration means for locating the sheets of material in a predetermined relationship with said stitching station, and stitcher means at said stitching station for stitching the sheets of material along a stitch line extending transversely to the path of movement of said reciprocatable shuttle means, said stitcher means being selectively operable to perform either saddle or side stitching operations on the sheets of material.

2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said reciprocatable shuttle means includes clamp means for holding the sheets of material and drive means for moving said clamp means in a forward direction to such an extent that the sheets of material held by the clamp means move past said registration means and for moving said clamp means in a reverse direction to cause trailing edges of the sheets of material to be moved into engagement with said registration means.

3. An assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein said assembly further includes a longitudinally extending and transversely sloping support surface along which said conveyor means and said shuttle means move the sheets of material, and longitudinally extending guide means along a lower portion of said support surface for effecting registration of edges of the sheets which extend transversely to the trailing edges of the sheets.

4. An assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein said registration means includes a pivotally mounted stop member which is pivoted to an inoperative position upon engagement by the sheets of material with the stop member as the sheets of material are moved in the forward direction, and which pivots to an operative position when the sheets of material are moved past the stop member, said stop member being located in the operative position for registering the trailing edges of the sheets of material as the sheets of material move in the reverse direction.

5. An assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein said reciprocatable shuttle means further includes control means for operating said clamp means between a closed condition in which the sheets of material are clampingly engaged by said clamp means and an open condition in which the sheets of material are free to move relative to said clamp means, said clamp means being operated from said closed condition to said open condition by said control means after the sheets of material have been moved past said registration means and said clamp means has started to move in the reverse direction and before the trailing edges of the sheets of material engage said registration means to thereby enable relative movement to occur between said clamp means and the sheets of material when the trailing edges of the sheets the sheets of material engage said registration means.

6. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said reciprocatable shuttle means includes pusher means for shoving previously stitched sheets of material from said stitching station as said reciprocatable shuttle means moves other sheets of material toward said stitching station.

7. An assembly as set forth in claim 6 wherein said reciprocatable shuttle means further includes clamp means for clampingly engaging the sheets of material while they are being moved from said conveyor means to said stitching station, said pusher means being formed by a leading end portion of said clamp means.

8. An assembly as set forth in claim 6 further including guide means for engaging an edge portion of the group of sheets as they are being moved by said pusher means to retain the group of sheets against rotation relative to said pusher means.

9. An assembly as set forth in claim 6 wherein said pusher means engages a trailing edge portion of the stitched group of sheets at a location which is closer to one side edge portion of the stitched group of sheets than to an opposite side edge portion of the stitched group of sheets, said assembly further including first guide means for engaging said one side edge portion and second guide means for engaging said opposite side edge portion to retain the stitched group of sheets against rotational movement relative to said clamp means when the stitched group of sheets is being moved by said pusher means.

10. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 further including folder means mounted adjacent to said stitching station for folding saddle-stitched sheets of material along the stitch line after they are stitched at said stitching station, said reciprocatable shuttle means including means for moving stitched sheets of material from said stitching station to said folder means while moving other sheets of material from said conveyor means to said stitching station, said folder means being operable to move the stitched sheets of material forwardly at a greater speed than the speed of forward movement of said reciprocatable shuttle means to thereby move the stitched sheets of material out of engagement with the reciprocatable shuttle means.

11. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 further including folder means mounted adjacent to said stitching station for folding saddle-stitched sheets of material along the stitch line after they are stitched at said stitching station, said folder means including a control assembly which is selectively actuatable between one condition wherein said folder means is operable to fold saddle-stitched sheets of material and another condition wherein said folder means is inoperable to fold sheets of material to thereby enable side stitched sheets of material to be processed without being folded.

12. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 further including a support surface adjacent to said registration means for supporting the sheets of material, and biasing means located adjacent to said registration means for pressing the sheets of material toward said support surface to retain the sheets of material in the predetermined relationship with said stitching station.

13. An assembly as set forth in claim 12 wherein said biasing means includes a roller mounted for pivoting movement toward and away from said support surface.

14. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 further including adjustable coupling means interconnecting said conveyor means and said shuttle means, said conveyor means including finger means for engaging trailing edges of the sheets of material to thereby move the sheets of material, said coupling means being selectively adjustable to vary the relationship between said finger means and said shuttle means to enable said assembly to be used for interconnecting sheets of material of different sizes.

15. An assembly as set forth in claim 14 wherein said registration means is adjustable relative to said stitcher means to enable said registration means to position sheets of material of different sizes in the predetermined relationship with said stitching station.

16. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 further including adjustment means for varying the relationship between said shuttle means and said conveyor means to enable said shuttle means to engage sheets of material of different sizes with their centerline which extend transversely to the path of movement of said shuttle means in the same predetermined position relative to said shuttle means.

17. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said registration means includes a member for engaging edge portions of the sheets to register the sheets relative to said stitcher means and means for adjusting the position of said member relative to said stitcher means to register sheets for either saddle or side stitching.

18. An assembly for use in interconnecting a plurality of sheets of material, said assembly comprising stitcher means mounted at a stitching station for stitching a plurality of sheets of material, stop means for engaging the trailing edges of the sheets of material to position the sheets of material in a predetermined relationship with said stitcher means, and shuttle means for moving the sheets of material in a forward direction past the stop means and then in a reverse direction to cause the trailing edges of the sheets of material to engage said stop means to thereby position the sheets of material relative to said stitcher means.

19. An assembly as set forth in claim 18 wherein said shuttle means includes control means for operating said shuttle means from a closed condition gripping the sheets of material to an open condition in which the sheets of material are free to move relative to said shuttle means as said shuttle means is moving in the reverse direction and before the trailing edges of the sheets of material engage said stop means.

20. An assembly as set forth in claim 18 wherein said shuttle means includes pusher means for abuttingly engaging and shoving stitched sheets of material away from said stitching station as said shuttle means moves other sheets of material to said stitching station.

21. An assembly as set forth in claim 20 further including drive means mounted adjacent to said stitching station for engaging the stitched sheets of material and moving them away from said pusher means as said shuttle means moves the other sheets of material to said stitching station.

22. An assembly as set forth in claim 18 wherein said stop means is mounted for movement from a first position in which said stop means is operative to locate the sheets of material relative to the stitching station to a second position in which said stop means is inoperative for locating the sheets of material, said stop means being movable from said first position to said second position position by engagement of leading edges of the sheets of material with the stop means as the sheets of material are moved in the forward direction by said shuttle means, said stop means being movable from said second position to said first position when the trailing edges of the sheets of material are moved forwardly past said stop means by said shuttle means to thereby enable said stop means to locate the sheets of material relative to said stitcher means as the sheets of material move in the rearward direction.

23. An assembly as set forth in claim 18 further including retaining means for engaging at least one of the sheets of material and retarding movement of the sheets of material relative to said stop means after the trailing edges of the sheets of material have been brought into engagement with said stop means.

24. A binder assembly for interconnecting a plurality of sheets, said assembly comprising a longitudinally extending support surface for supporting groups of sheets with the sheets of each group in a flat face-to-face relationship, a conveyor having spaced-apart fingers cooperating with said support surface for shoving each group of sheets along said support surface in a forward direction at a first continuous speed to a pickup station, a reciprocatable shuttle assembly for clampingly engaging each group of sheets in turn at said pickup station and moving the clamped group of sheets forwardly to a stitching station at a second speed which is greater than said first speed to thereby move the clamped group of sheets clear of a finger of said conveyor which had been shoving the group of sheets along said support surface at said first speed, a stop member located adjacent to said stitching station for engaging an edge portion of the group of sheets to position the group of sheets, a stitcher assembly located at said stitching station in a predetermined relationship with said stop member for stitching the group of sheets along a stitch line extending transversely of the path of movement of said reciprocatable shuttle assembly, and a folder assembly located adjacent to said stitcher assembly for receiving and folding stitched groups of sheets along the stitch line.

25. A binder assembly as set forth in claim 24 further including a pusher member associated with said reciprocatable shuttle assembly for shoving a stitched group of sheets from said stitching station into said folder assembly as another group of sheets is moved form said pickup station to said stitching station by said reciprocatable shuttle assembly.

26. A binder assembly as set forth in claim 24 wherein said reciprocatable shuttle assembly is movable in one direction to move a group of sheets past said stop member to said stitching station and is movable in a direction opposite to said first direction to cause the trailing edge portion of the group of sheets to engage said stop member.

27. A binder assembly as set forth in claim 26 further including retaining means for engaging the group of sheets and retarding movement of the group of sheets after the trailing edge portion of the group of sheets has been brought into engagement with said stop member.

28. A method of interconnecting a plurality of sheets, said method comprising the steps of continuously moving a group of sheets to a pickup station with the sheets in a flat face-to-face relationship, reciprocating a shuttle assembly to move the group of sheets from the pickup station to a stitching station, arresting movement of the group of sheets at the stitching station by engaging an edge portion of the group of sheets with a stop member to position the group of sheets in a predetermined relationship with the stitching station, and stitching the group of sheets along a stitch line which extends transversely of the path of movement of the shuttle assembly.

29. A method as set forth in claim 28 further including the method step of pushing a previously stitched group of sheets away from said stitching station with the shuttle assembly during said reciprocating step.

30. A method as set forth in claim 28 wherein said step of reciprocating the shuttle assembly includes gripping the group of sheets at the pickup station with the shuttle assembly, moving the shuttle assembly in a forward direction to such an extent that the group of sheets is moved past the stop member, moving the shuttle assembly in a reverse direction toward the stop member, and releasing the group of sheets as they move in the reverse direction to thereby cause the trailing edge portion of the group of sheets to move in such a manner as to engage the stop member.

31. An assembly for interconnecting a plurality of sheets, said assembly comprising a longitudinally extending planar support surface for supporting the sheets, collator means for forming a plurality of sheets into groups on said support surface, conveyor means for moving the groups of sheets along said support surface toward a pickup station, shuttle means for sequentially moving the groups of sheets from said pickup station to a stitching station, stitcher means at said stitching station for stitching the groups of sheets, longitudinally extending guide means located adjacent to one longitudinally extending side portion of said support surface for side registering each group of sheets in turn relative to said stitcher means, said support surface sloping transversely downwardly toward said guide means at an acute angle to a horizontally extending plane whereby a group of sheets tends to move downwardly into engagement with said guide means under the influence of gravity, and folder means adjacent to said stitching station for folding the stitched group of sheets, said shuttle means including clamp means located adjacent to said guide means for gripping a group of sheets, shuttle drive means for reciprocating said clamp means between said pickup station and said stitcher station, said clamp means including upper and lower longitudinally extending clamp members for clampingly engaging opposite sides of a group of sheets, said clamp members extending between said stitcher means and said guide means in a direction generally parallel to said guide means when said clamp means is at said stitching station, and control means for operating said clamp means to grip a group of sheets at said pickup station and to release the group of sheets at said stitching station with a lowermost edge portion of the group of sheets in engagement with said guide means.

32. An assembly as set forth in claim 31 wherein said conveyor means includes a conveyor drive means for operating said conveyor means to move the groups of sheets forwardly to said pickup station at a first speed, said shuttle drive means being operative to move said clamp means forwardly at a speed which is at least as great as said first speed when said clamp means grips a group of sheets at said pickup station and to accelerate said clamp means to a second speed which is substantially greater than said first speed immediately after the group of sheets is gripped at said pickup station to thereby move the gripped group of sheets away from said conveyor means, and said folder means includes a folder drive means for operating said folder means to move groups of stitched sheets engaged by said folder means forwardly at a third speed which is greater than said second speed.

33. An assembly as set forth in claim 31 further including adjustment means selectively operable between one condition wherein said assembly is operable to sidestitch the groups of sheets and another condition wherein said assembly is operable to saddle stitch the groups of sheets, said folder means including control means which is selectively operable to prevent side stitched groups of sheets from being folded by said folder means, said shuttle means being operable to position each group of sheets with its centerline to one side of said stitcher means when said adjustment means is in said one condition, and said shuttle means being operable to position each group of sheets with its centerline in alignment with said stitcher means when said adjustment means is in said other condition.

34. A method of interconnecting a plurality of unfolded sheets, said method comprising the steps of continuously feeding a series of groups of sheets in one direction at a first speed, accelerating the leading group of sheets in said one direction to a second speed which is faster than said first speed, depositing the leading group of sheets in a predetermined position at a stitching station, stitching the leading group of sheets at the stitching station along a stitch line extending transversely to the direction in which the series of groups of sheets is being fed, moving the stitched group of sheets away from the stitching station in said one direction toward a folding station at a third speed which is at least as great as the second speed while moving a next succeeding group of sheets toward the stitching station, folding the stitched group of sheets along the stitch line at the folding station, and continuing the movement of the stitched and folded group of sheets in said one direction.

35. A method as set forth in claim 34 further including the method step of trimming the edge portion opposite the stitched and folded edge portion along a line extending transversely to the direction of feed.

36. A method of interconnecting a plurality of sheets of material at a stitching station, said method comprising the steps of moving the sheets in a forward direction from a position behind a stop member mounted at a predetermined location relative to the stitching station to a position in front of the stop member, registering the sheets relative to a stitcher means at the stitching station by moving the sheets in a reverse direction from the position in front of the stop member to cause trailing edge portions of the sheets to engage the stop member, and stitching the sheets with the stitcher means while maintaining the trailing edge portions of the sheets in engagement with the stop member to thereby maintain the sheets in register with the stitcher means during said stitching step.

37. A method as set forth in claim 36 further including the method step of moving the stop member from an extended position to a retracted position in response to engagement of a leading edge portion of the sheets with said stop member during said step of moving the sheets in a forward direction.

38. A method as set forth in claim 36 further including the method step of pushing previously stitched sheets away from the stitching station contemporaneously with said step of moving the sheets in a forward direction.