U.S. patent number 3,697,062 [Application Number 04/881,818] was granted by the patent office on 1972-10-10 for machine for the zigzag folding of sheets.
Invention is credited to Harri Mones, Walter Mones.
United States Patent |
3,697,062 |
Mones , et al. |
October 10, 1972 |
MACHINE FOR THE ZIGZAG FOLDING OF SHEETS
Abstract
A machine is used for the zigzag folding of sheets, particularly
paper sheets, in predetermined sizes. The machine has a table
carrying the sheets to be folded and a carriage reciprocating above
the table. A swing carried by the carriage carries a driven pair of
folding rollers which are actuated in such manner that when the
carriage moves forwardly one of the rollers table against the ta
and when the carriage moves rearwardly the other one of the rollers
presses against the table.
Inventors: |
Mones; Harri (D-5601 Gruiten,
DT), Mones; Walter (D-5657 Haan, DT) |
Family
ID: |
5715163 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/881,818 |
Filed: |
December 3, 1969 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Dec 4, 1968 [DT] |
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P 18 12 557.0 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
270/30.04;
493/413 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H
45/20 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65H
45/12 (20060101); B65H 45/20 (20060101); B65h
029/46 () |
Field of
Search: |
;270/30,31,79,52.5,61,64,69 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Michell; Robert W.
Claims
We claim:
1. Machine for the zigzag folding of paper sheets and the like,
comprising a table adapted to carry a paper sheet, a carriage, a
crank drive connected with said carriage for moving said carriage
forwards and backwards above said table, a swing mounted in said
carriage and connected with said crank drive, two folding rollers
carried by said swing, two pressure rollers, arms connecting said
pressure rollers with said folding rollers, means moving at least
one of said pressure rollers into a raised position, two racks
located on opposite sides of said carriage, and means connected
with said racks and said folding rollers and actuating said folding
rollers to press one of said folding rollers against a paper sheet
upon said table during the forward movement of said carriage and to
press the other one of said folding rollers against the paper sheet
upon said table during the backward movement of said carriage.
2. Machine in accordance with claim 1, comprising braking means
connected with at least one folding roller and acting upon said
crank drive.
3. Machine in accordance with claim 1, comprising a plate located
close to an end of said table and movable relatively to said end to
bend angularly a paper sheet portion extending beyond said end.
4. Machine in accordance with claim 3, comprising a pressure ledge
located adjacent said plate and means moving said ledge into
engagement with said bent paper sheet portion to raise it above the
table.
Description
This invention relates to a machine for the zigzag folding of
sheets, particularly paper sheets in predetermined shapes, the
machine having a table serving as a support for the sheet being
folded.
Machines are known which fold small sheets crosswise. There are
also machines using so-called "driver" sheets for folding in zigzag
manner maps, drawings or the like. The operations of these machines
are very limited. They can not be adjusted to sheets of other sizes
or such adjustment can be carried out only with great difficulty.
Furthermore, it is difficult to produce on these machines precise
and sharp-edged folds since, as is known, it is not possible to
fold with sufficient sharpness paper of different thickness and
types around a driven member even if that member has a very sharp
edge.
An object of the present invention is to improve prior
constructions.
Another object is the provision of a machine of simple structure
which operates completely automatically for the zigzag folding of
sheets, particularly paper sheets, which can be set to any size of
sheet to be folded and which will produce sharp folding edges.
Other objects of the present invention will become apparent in the
course of the following specification.
In the accomplishment of the objectives of the present invention it
was found desirable to provide a carriage moving back and forth
above the table for the sheets being folded. A driven pair of
folding rollers carried by a swing is so mounted in the carriage
that when the carriage moves forward one roller presses against the
table and when the carriage moves back the other roller presses
against the table.
In accordance with the present invention the drive is
advantageously so constructed that the wheels actuating the folding
rollers mesh with a rack which is moved longitudinally to provide
paper entry relatively to the wheels driving the rollers. Then the
rack stands still and is used for actuating the roller driving
wheels during the movement of the carriage.
Furthermore, in accordance with the present invention the device is
advantageously so constructed that separate racks are provided on
opposite sides of the carriage, one of the racks extending below
the roller driving wheels while the other rack is located above the
roller driving wheels.
The present invention also provides an effective construction by
using a crane rod drive for the tilting movement of the swing and
the longitudinal movement of the carriage.
An advantageous feature of the present invention consists in the
provision of a brake disc for at least one of the folding
rollers.
Furthermore, the present invention advantageously provides pressure
rollers in front of the folding rollers, at least one of the
pressure rollers being movable into a raised position.
To comply with the German Industry Norm DIN824 requiring triangular
fold, the present invention provides at the rear end of the table a
separate plate section which is movable up and down and which forms
a triangular end portion of the incoming end of the sheet.
For this construction it is advantageous when in accordance with
the present invention a ledge is provided under this section which
can clamp the folded sheet end and which is movable up into the
clamping position.
To produce transverse folds the present invention provides shafts
located at the outer sides of the table and provided with folding
wheels.
The present invention provides an effective construction of the
table by supplying it with suction openings, known as such, for
holding the incoming end of the sheet.
Finally according to the present invention it is advantageous to
make the carriage of two slide rings joined by a transverse axle
and guided on rails.
The described construction provides a completely automatically
operating machine for the zigzag folding of sheets, particularly
paper sheets. Ii is merely necessary to push the sheet to be folded
into the machine. The size of the zigzag folds which are to be
produced can be set as required. The sheet passes the pair of
folding rollers carried upon a swing in a direction opposed to
their direction of rotation in such manner that during the forward
movement of the carriage one folding roller presses against the
sheet and produces a sharp folding edge, while during the return
movement of the carriage the other roller presses against the table
and also produces a sharp folding edge. Thus the paper is
advantageously folded about itself without any intermediate body,
whereby the location of the folds is attained by a precise
conformity of the movement of the paper with the movements of the
reciprocating carriage. Papers of different thickness and makes can
be effectively provided with sharp folding edges. When the first
paper layer is placed the wheels driving the folding rollers mesh
with the longitudinally movable rack; when the rack stands still
the roller driving wheels rotate upon it during the movement of the
carriage. These gear wheels are of the same size and their pitch
diameter is equal to the roller diameter, so that the rollers
rotate with a circumferential speed which corresponds precisely to
the rolling speed of the rollers upon the table. This results in
the feature that the rolling movement is exactly equal to the path
of the carriage. To assure that the direction of rotation of the
rollers will remain unchanged, separate racks are provided upon the
two sides of the carriage. When the carriage moves forward, the
driving wheels rotate upon the rack located below them, while
during the return movement the driving wheels rotate upon the rack
located above them. The longitudinal movement and the tipping
movement of the swing take place advantageously through a crank rod
drive. Due to this drive, any small intermediate fold can be
produced. To make a small fold the cranks carry out only a part of
a complete rotation, whereupon they change their direction of
rotation. When a dead point is reached or when the direction of
rotation is changed, the carriage stands still and a swinging
movement of the rod takes place in such manner that a roller is
raised from the table and another roller is placed upon the table.
The linear movement of the carriage begins only when a roller is
adequately pressed against the table. One of the rollers has an
adjustable brake disc to make certain that the operations
swinging-moving take place one after the other one to regulate the
extent of pressure of the roller against the table. Pressure
rollers are mounted in front of the folding rollers to make certain
that the paper being folded will retain its location when the
intermediate fold is being formed. Preferably when paper is
inserted one of the pressure rollers can be moved into a raised
position to provide free movement for one end of the paper. Since
German Industry Norm DIN824 requires a triangular fold in the
folding of a sheet, the table has at its rear end a table plate
section which is movable separately up and down. This section
clamps during its downward movement a triangular end section of the
incoming end of a sheet and moves it upwardly to a small extent by
means of a pressure ledge clamping the sheet end up to the table
top surface, so that a sharp-edged fold is produced at this section
when the next fold is being formed. In order to produce the
required transverse folds in a sheet which has been subjected to
intermediate folding, the sheet passes the folding wheels located
upon one of the shafts at the outlet side of the table. These
folding wheels can be shifted upon the shaft, so that transverse
folds can be made with any desired spacing. Suction openings
provided in the table are used for holding the incoming sheet end.
Suction air is turned off when the paper with intermediate folding
is transmitted to the rotating folding rollers. Since the carriage
consists of two slide rings joined by a transverse axle which are
guided in rails, a good linear shifting can be attained.
Furthermore, the construction is a most advantageous one.
The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed
description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings
showing by way of example only, a preferred embodiment of the
inventive idea.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a top view of a folded sheet of paper with transverse
folds and having the size of the German Industry Norm A.O.
FIG. 1a is a side view of the sheet of paper shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 2 is a top view of the folding machine of the present
invention.
FIG. 3 is a side view of the machine shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a section through the folding rollers at the time a paper
sheet is inserted, a pressure roller being shown in its raised
position.
FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating the wheels driving the folding
rollers.
FIG. 6 is a top view of the machine parts shown in FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic side view illustrating the entry of a
sheet end when the pressure roller is raised.
FIG. 8 is similar to FIG. 7 and shows the operation of the pressure
roller.
FIG. 9 is similar to FIGS. 7 and 8 and shows the formation of the
first intermediate fold while the carriage is moving.
FIG. 10 is a similar diagram illustrating the formation of a second
intermediate fold.
FIG. 11 is a section along the line A--B of FIG. 2 and illustrates
the table plate forming the triangular sections.
FIG. 12 is similar to FIG. 11 and shows the table plate as clamping
the end of a paper sheet.
FIG. 13 is similar to FIGS. 11 and 12 and shows the table plate as
having been moved slightly upwards to provide a straightening of
the sheet end.
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating roller action upon the
straightened portion to provide a sharp fold edge; and
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the linearly moved table when a sheet
is transmitted to the folding rollers.
The folding machine shown in the drawings has a fixed table 1 and
an upper table 2 movable in the direction of the arrow x shown in
FIG. 3. Pairs of rails 3 and 4 are located above the table. Slide
rings 6 forming the carriage 5 are guided in the rails 3 and 4.
The transverse axle 7 which interconnects the slide rings 6 carries
a swinging member 8 provided with axles 11 and 12 which carry
folding rollers 9 and 10 driven in opposite directions.
To provide a rotation of the folding rollers 9 and 10 in the
opposite direction, gear wheels 13 and 14 are located on one side
of the rollers upon axles 11 and 12 with fixed torsion. The
diameter of the folding rollers corresponds precisely to the pitch
diameter of the gear wheels 13 and 14. The transverse axle 7 of the
carriage 5 passes through the point of intersection of the line
touching the pitch circles of the gear wheels 13 and 14 with the
central connecting line.
Due to this arrangement the swing 8 can be moved linearly and its
swinging movement about the transverse axle 7 is provided. The
center of the transverse axle 7 and the corresponding slide rings 6
are located so high above the table 1 that the swing 8 with its
rollers 9 and 10 can move due to the pushing and pulling action of
the crank drive 15 or of the connecting rods 16 engaging the
extending arms of the swing 8, the movement of the swing taking
place linearly when the pushing is to the left (FIG. 3). During
this movement the folding roller 10 is pressed firmly against the
table. When the left dead point of the crank drive 15 is reached,
the swing 8 initially stands still and then carries out such a
swinging movement that the folding roller 10 is raised from the
table and the folding roller 9 is pressed against the table. The
linear return movement takes place only when the roller 9 is
pressed with sufficient strength against the table.
An adjustable brake disc 18 is mounted upon the axle 11 to make
certain that the operations swinging-shifting take place one after
the other and to regulare the pressure of the rollers 9 and 10
against the table. The braking force of the disc 18 acts against
the pushing and pulling force of the crank drive 15 so that there
is a lesser resistance during the swinging movement. Thus a
swinging movement takes place each time that the direction of the
linear movement of the swing is changed.
Bearing bolts 19 and 20 are fixed upon the swing 8 on both sides
thereof at the intersection of the central connecting line of the
gear wheels 13 and 14 with the pitch circle line of the gear wheel
14. Links 21 and 22 are mounted upon the bolts 19 and 20. A shaft
23 carried by the slide rings 24 connects the ends of the links 21
and 22 and is located opposite the bearing location.
A gear wheel 25 is fixed upon the axle 12 and is of the same size
as the gear wheels 13 and 14. The gear wheel 25 meshes with an
intermediate gear wheel 26 carried by the link 22. A gear wheel 27
consists of two parts 27' and 27". The part 27" meshes with the
gear wheel 26 and is mounted by a free run coupling upon the shaft
23. The gear wheel part 27' meshes with a bottom rack 28. The rack
28 is movable longitudinally and meshes with a pinion 29 of a
driving motor 30.
Upon the other end of the shaft 23 there is also a rotatably
mounted gear wheel 31 which meshes with a top rack 32. Gear wheels
27 are of the same size as the gear wheels 13, 14, 25 and 26.
Due to this arrangement of the driving wheels and the racks the
folding rollers 9 and 10 do not change their direction of rotation
during the forward and return movements of the carriage 5. During
the forward movement of the carriage 5 the gear wheel 27 engages
and rotates upon the rack 28 and drives the folding roller 10
through the intermediate gear wheel 26 and the gear wheel 25. The
gear wheel 14 of the folding roller 10 meshes with the gear wheel
13 of the folding roller 9 and thus rotates the latter. During this
movement the gear wheel 27 upon the shaft 23 runs empty.
During the return movement of the carriage the rotatably mounted
gear wheel 27' turns upon the rack 28 but the shaft 23 and the gear
wheel 27" do not participate in this movement. The gear wheel 31
rotates upon the rack 32 and drives the folding rollers 9 and 10
through the shaft 23, the gear wheel 27", the intermediate wheel
26, the gear wheel 25 and the gear wheels 14 and 13, whereby the
folding rollers retain their direction of rotation.
The circumferential rotation imparted to the folding rollers 9 and
10 is exactly equal to the speed with which they turn upon the
table.
Pressure rollers 34 and 35 are carried by swinging arms 33 and are
located in front of the folding rollers 9 and 10. The pressure
roller 34 can be moved to a raised position by a magnet 36 fixed to
the swing 8.
The table 1 is provided upon the rear end with a plate section 37
movable up and down. A pressure link 39 which is actuated by a
magnet 38 cooperates with the plate section 37.
To provide transverse folds in a sheet being folded, shafts 41
provided with folding wheels 40 are located adjacent the table 1.
One wheel 40 has a triangular rib 40' and the wheel belonging
thereto has a corresponding triangular groove 40" (FIG. 2).
The operation of the described machine is as follows:
Let it be assumed that a paper sheet is to be folded the size of
which is that of the German Industry Norm DINAO (FIG. 1). The sheet
is placed upon the supporting table surface 42 (FIG. 3) so that its
narrow side extends parallel to the axles of the folding rollers.
The sheet is shifted in the direction perpendicular to the axles 11
and 12 and passes the light gates 43 which establish a specific
folding program for sheets of specific size. Then the paper sheet
is guided by the conducting sheets 44 and 45 until the narrow edge
of the paper sheet reaches the point of contact of the folding
rollers 9 and 10. Further shifting will bend the paper so that it
will press against the key 46' of the microswitch 46 and thereby
start the machine (FIG. 4). This arrangement makes certain that the
mechanisms will start their motors only when the paper edge is
definately located at the line joining the folding rollers and when
the paper is subjected to a certain pushing pressure, so that when
the folding rollers begin to rotate they will immediately move the
paper sheet. The microswitch 46 will switch on the magnet 26 so
that the pressure roller 34 is moved into its raised position.
Furthermore, the microswitch 46 switches on the irreversible motor
30, the pinion 29 of which meshes with the rack 28 and shifts it in
the direction of the arrow y (FIG. 6). The rack 28 will turn the
gear wheel 27 and through the intermediate wheel 26 and the gear
wheels 25, 14 and 13 the folding rollers 9 and 10 will be rotated
into the position shown in the drawings.
The folding rollers engage the sheet of paper pressing against them
and transport it in such manner that initially the sheet edge
moving perpendicularly to the table is pressed against the folding
roller 9 by air current emerging from the nozzles 47 (FIG. 4) and
will be guided at the same time toward the surface of the table.
The folding rollers 9 and 10 which at that time do not move
longitudinally, transport by their rotation the paper sheet B
further across the table until the front edge of the sheet reaches
the light gates 48 (FIG. 7). This will stop the motor 30 which
drives the folding rollers 9 and 10 through the rack 28.
If thicker paper sheets are used, the safe guiding of the sheets
may be assured by providing a guiding strip 49 shown by broken
lines in FIG. 4, which swings back after the end of the sheet has
reached the table surface.
The pressure roller 34 also facilitates the proper position of the
paper sheet. Then the crank drive starts and causes a forward
movement of the carriage 5 in the course of which the paper sheet B
forms a loop which is frictionally pressed by the folding roller
10, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. After reaching the end position,
which is the dead point position of the cranks 15, the swing 8 is
swung about the transverse axle 7 during further crank movement,
whereby the folding roller 9 moves into engagement with the table
surface, while the other roller 10 is raised from this surface, as
shown in FIG. 10.
Then the procedure of loop forming and sharply shaping the fold is
repeated in the same manner as already described. The pressure
rollers keep during this folding procedure the sheet firmly upon
the table and prevent it from shifting.
It is possible to provide any other smaller paper fold, in which
case the cranks will carry out only a part of a complete rotation
and will change their direction of rotation.
The triangle, which is required by the German Industry Norm DIN824
is folded according to the same procedure. When the first paper
sheet is moved in, the angle-shaping plate 37 is located in its
upper position (FIG. 11). After the first paper sheet is placed,
the plate 37 moves downwardly and bends a triangular portion B'
with light roundings (FIG. 12). Then the pressure ledge 39 which is
horizontally movable under the plate 37 and which is provided with
a rubber strip 50, will be actuated by the magnet 38 and will press
the bent triangular end portion B' of the sheet against a smooth
front wall 1' of the table 1. Then the plate 37 is moved upward up
to the table surface. This movement will raise the paper so that it
will form a bend B" above the table surface (FIG. 13).
When the next paper sheet arrives this bend will be shifted by the
folding rollers from right to left and it changes into a sharp fold
bent against itself, as shown in FIG. 14. After the sheet B has
been provided with an intermediate fold and with a bent triangle,
the machine parts which carried out these operations will move back
to their initial positions. The upper table 2 is shifted in the
direction of the arrow x (F. 15) toward the rotary folding rollers
40 and takes along with it the longitudionally folded paper sheet
B, which is held upon the table by suction openings 51. Then the
paper sheet is engaged by the rollers 40. During this operation the
plate 37 is moved downwardly to such an extent that it provides
free movement for the upper table 2 and the triangular sheet
portion B'. Due to the sharp folding edge of the sheet portion B'
and with the assistance of plates 52 the triangular sheet portion
B' will be bent over the sheet B. Suction air is switched off; when
the paper sheet is taken over by the rollers 40 it will be pressed
by the rollers and due to the projections and grooves provided upon
the rollers (FIG. 2), it will receive two transverse folds B'"
located on opposite sides (FIG. 1a), so that the separate sections
can be conveniently bent by hand.
* * * * *