U.S. patent number 3,899,165 [Application Number 05/297,993] was granted by the patent office on 1975-08-12 for signature collating and binding system.
This patent grant is currently assigned to R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co.. Invention is credited to Stewart J. Abram, David R. Denis, Alex E. Heinze, Leonard M. Johnson, Edward Taylor.
United States Patent |
3,899,165 |
Abram , et al. |
August 12, 1975 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Signature collating and binding system
Abstract
Each signature feeder along a collating conveyor is selectively
actuated under control of coding on optically scanned mailing
labels. To compensate for the alternating thickness of different
books of signatures from the collating conveyor, the coding also
controls mechanical offsets for a binding line, and is compared
with readings from a continuous thickness caliper. Upon detection
of a malfunction at any signature feeedere, all feeders located
downstream therefrom are disabled as the defective book is conveyed
adjacent thereto. The defective book is rejected and a replacement
book fills the empty space to prevent loss of synchronism with the
mailing labels being applied by a mailing head under control of the
coding.
Inventors: |
Abram; Stewart J. (Elmhurst,
IL), Denis; David R. (Winnetka, IL), Heinze; Alex E.
(Glenview, IL), Johnson; Leonard M. (Downers, IL),
Taylor; Edward (Chicago, IL) |
Assignee: |
R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co.
(Chicago, IL)
|
Family
ID: |
23148537 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/297,993 |
Filed: |
October 2, 1972 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
270/52.03 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H
7/02 (20130101); B65H 43/00 (20130101); B65H
39/02 (20130101); B65H 5/32 (20130101); B65H
2511/13 (20130101); B65H 2301/4311 (20130101); B65H
2511/22 (20130101); B65H 2553/61 (20130101); B65H
2553/24 (20130101); B65H 2511/13 (20130101); B65H
2220/03 (20130101); B65H 2511/22 (20130101); B65H
2220/02 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65H
43/00 (20060101); B65H 39/02 (20060101); B65H
39/00 (20060101); B65h 039/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;270/52,53,54,55,56,57,58 ;53/53,54
;156/350,351,354,355,360-364,366,367 ;271/59 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
Cosden, Thomas B.; "Split-Run"; Book Production Industry; March
1970; pgs. 34-37..
|
Primary Examiner: Michell; Robert W.
Assistant Examiner: Hum; Vance Y.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Wegner, Stellman, McCord, Wiles
& Wood
Claims
We claim:
1. In a collating and binding system having a plurality of feeder
means each responsive to actuation of an associated delivery means
for delivering a signature to an adjacent station spaced along a
conveyor, and processing means adjacent said conveyor for
processing the books of signatures which have been progressively
built by the feeder means to provide output books of signatures,
the improvement comprising:
source means having a plurality of outputs each corresponding to a
different one of the plurality of feeder means, the source means
generating a series of different combinations of signals at the
plurality of outputs to form different books of signatures;
a plurality of delay means each coupled between a different one of
the outputs and a different one of the feeder means for selectively
actuating the associated delivery means when signals are present at
the associated outputs to progressively build said plurality of
different books at the spaced stations;
said processing means includes adjustable means having different
positions for processing different thicknesses of books of
signatures built by said feeder means;
movable shaft means responsive to a total thickness signal for
moving a shaft by a corresponding amount, the shaft driving said
adjustable means to alternatively assume different positions
corresponding to the total thickness signal; and
summer means coupled to the plurality of outputs for summing each
series of different combinations of signals to generate the total
thickness signal coupled to the movable shaft means.
2. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said processing means
includes stitcher means for binding said books of signature, said
stitcher means including stitcher head means, stitcher drive means
for producing reciprocating motion of said stitcher head means to
bind an adjacent book of signatures, said adjustable means includes
link means between said stitcher head means and said stitcher drive
means for moving said stitcher head means to different positions,
the shaft of the movable shaft means being coupled to auxiliary
link means for moving said first named link means to different
positions.
3. The improvement of claim 2 including synchronization means for
causing said total thickness signals to control said movable shaft
means when said particular combination of signatures is adjacent
said stitcher head means.
4. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said processing means
includes mailing applicator means for attaching individual mailing
labels to a book of signatures carried by a mailing carrier means,
said adjustable means comprises height means for adjusting the
relative height between said applicator means and said carrier
means, and the shaft of the movable shaft means controls said
height means to compensate for different thicknesses of the books
of signatures.
5. The improvement of claim 4 wherein said mailing labels each
carry coded indicia representing a desired combination of
signatures, the source means includes reader means for reading said
coded indicia to generate the desired combination of signals at the
plurality of outputs, and synchronization means for causing the
mailing label which controls selective actuation to be applied to
the corresponding combination of signatures resulting therefrom
when reaching the mailing carrier means.
6. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said source means includes
programmable selector means for decoding a coded indicia to
generate the series of different combinations of signals, said
programmable selector means includes a plurality of switch means
manually selectable to change the combinations of signals produced
at the plurality of outputs by the same coded indicia.
7. The improvement of claim 1 including caliper means adjacent said
conveyor for generating a caliper signal representing a monitored
thickness of the combinations of signatures conveyed thereby,
comparator means responsive to said caliper means and said summer
means for determining if the monitored thickness corresponds to the
total thickness signal, and reject means for rejecting a monitored
combination of signatures when the comparator means indicates a
predetermined degree of dissimilarity.
8. The improvement of claim 7 including replacement means adjacent
said conveyor for storing a plurality of replacement books of
signatures, and control means for actuating said replacement means
to convey a replacement book of signatures to a conveyor station at
which a book of signatures has been rejected by said reject
means.
9. In a collating and binding system having a plurality of feeder
means each with control means actuable to deliver a signature to an
adjacent station spaced along a conveyor, processing means adjacent
said conveyor with control means actuable for processing the
signatures at an adjacent station spaced along the conveyor to
produce output books of signatures, and drive means for moving the
stations of said conveyor, the improvement comprising:
sensing means associated with one of the feeder means or processing
means for generating a reference signal when the drive means has
moved a station to a predetermined position with respect to an
adjacent station position at which the associated control means is
to be actuated;
source means for generating an actuation signal prior to the time
of occurrence of the reference signal;
delay means coupled between said source means and said associated
control means for delaying the actuation signal in order to actuate
said associated control means when the drive means has moved a
station to said adjacent position, including
increment delay means for establishing a plurality of increment
time periods occurring in synchronism with increments of movement
produced by said drive means, and
variable delay means in series with said increment delay means for
producing a plurality of different time periods which represent
fractions of said increment time periods; and
adjustment means responsive to the reference signal for selecting a
particular one of said time period fractions for said variable
delay means.
10. The improvement of claim 9 wherein said increment delay means
comprise first shift register means for shifting said actuation
signal in response to each generation of a first shift pulse, shift
control means for generating first shift pulses in response to
incremental movements of the stations, said variable delay means
comprise second shift register means for shifting said actuation
signal in response to each generation of a second shift pulse, and
means for generating second shift pulses at a higher frequency than
the frequency of said first shift pulses.
11. The improvement of claim 10 wherein said sensing means includes
timing cycle means for generating the reference signal at a
predetermined time in the cycle of operation of the associated one
feeder means or processing means, and said adjustment means is
responsive to said reference signal for automatically adjusting the
effective length of said second shift register means.
12. The improvement of claim 9 wherein each of said feeder means
includes delivery means actuable for delivering a signature to an
adjacent station spaced along said conveyor means, one of said
delivery means corresponding to said associated control means.
13. The improvement of claim 12 wherein the source means
establishes a series of different combinations of signatures which
are to be serially produced, and selective means responsive to said
source means for selectively generating individual ones of said
actuation signals for coupling by associated ones of the delay
means to the associated delivery means when the spaced station
adjacent the associated feeder means is to contain a signature
stored by the associated feeder means.
14. The improvement of claim 12 including a plurality of detector
means each associated with a different feeder means for detecting a
malfunction which would produce an imperfect book, disable means
operated in synchronism with said drive means for sequentially
disabling each delivery means as a selected one of the stations of
the conveyor means is sequentially moved adjacent each feeder
means, and means coupled to said plurality of detector means for
causing said disable means to disable the feeder means at which a
malfunction is detected in order to effectively override the
actuation signals from the delay means.
15. In a collating and binding system having a plurality of feeder
means for delivering signatures to a plurality of stations along
conveyor means and processing means adjacent said conveyor means
for processing books of signatures progressively built by the
feeder means, the improvement comprising:
source means for establishing a series of different books of
signatures which are to be sequentially delivered by said feeder
means;
feeder control means responsive to said source means for
selectively actuating said feeder means to progressively build the
different books of signatures;
error means responsive to a malfunction which would produce an
imperfect book for generating a malfunction signal;
diverter means responsive to the malfunction signal for diverting a
single book of signatures corresponding to the imperfect book from
said conveyor means to create an open station;
replacement means for storing a plurality of replacement books of
signatures, including delivery means actuable to feed a single
replacement book of signatures to said conveyor means; and
control means for actuating said delivery means to fill the open
station with the replacement book of signatures to cause the
different books of signatures on said conveyor means to remain in
synchronization with the series of different books established by
the source means.
16. The improvement of claim 15 wherein said control means includes
switch means adjacent said conveyor means for detecting the open
station, and means responsive to said switch means for actuating
said delivery means.
17. The improvement of claim 15 wherein said source means includes
a series of mailing labels corresponding to said series of
different books, and said processing means includes mailing head
means for affixing individual ones of said mailing labels to the
series of books and replacement books carried by the conveyor means
to maintain the mailing labels in synchronism with the series of
different books which correspond thereto.
18. In a collating and binding system having a plurality of feeder
means for delivering signatures to a plurality of stations along
conveyor means and processing means adjacent said conveyor means
for processing books of signatures progressively built by the
feeder means, the improvement comprising:
diverter means responsive to a predetermined condition for
diverting a single book of signatures from said conveyor means to
create an open station;
book hopper means for storing a plurality of replacement books of
signatures, including an active storage section with delivery means
actuable to feed a single replacement book of signatures to said
conveyor means and a buffer storage section for storing replacement
books for the active storage section, detector means associated
with said active storage section for determining when additional
replacement books are required from said buffer storage means, and
controller means responsive to said detector means for transferring
a predetermined number of replacement books from said buffer
storage means to said active storage means; and
control means for actuating said delivery means to fill the open
station with the replacement book of signatures.
19. The improvement of claim 18 wherein said delivery means
includes vacuum means for gripping an individual one of said
replacement books in said active storage section, replacement
conveyor means for conveying the replacement book to the open
station of said conveyor means, shuttle means for moving said
vacuum means between said active storage section and said
replacement conveyor means, and said control means includes valve
means for controlling the vacuum to said vacuum means.
20. In a collating system having a plurality of feeder means each
responsive to actuation of an associated delivery means for
delivering a signature to an adjacent station spaced along a
collating conveyor, and drive means for operating the collating
conveyor to progressively build a plurality of books of signatures
at the plurality of spaced stations, the improvement
comprising:
source means for establishing a series of coded indicia of
different combinations to represent different combinations of
signatures which are to be serially delivered from the collating
conveyor as different books of signatures,
decoder means coupled to the source means and responsive to each
coded indicia for generating at a plurality of outputs a plurality
of actuation signals with each actuation signal representing a
different signature which is to be delivered to the collating
conveyor,
a plurality of delay means each associated with a different
delivery means and having a time delay corresponding to the time
necessary for a spaced station to be driven from a reference
position to the associated feeder means, each delay means being
responsive when one of the actuation signals is coupled thereto to
selectively actuate the associated delivery means after the lapse
of the corresponding time delay,
a plurality of manually actuable switches greater than the
plurality of delay means with at least two manually actuable
switches being associated with one of the delay means, and
circuit means for connecting said plurality of manually actuable
switches between said decoder means and the plurality of delay
means with said at least two switches being actuable to connect
either one or another output of the decoder means to the same delay
means to cause the same actuation signal to actuate different
delivery means as controlled by the programming of the plurality of
switches.
21. The improvement of claim 20 wherein the plurality of manually
actuable switches includes a switch for connecting each output of
the decoder means to any one of the plurality of delay means in
order to form a matrix of switches which allows any actuation
signal at an output to actuate any one of the delay means.
22. The improvement of claim 20 wherein said source means includes
a series of mailing labels and an associated series of coded
indicia each formed of plural marks, reader means for reading the
plural marks to develop a plurality of actuation signals greater
than the number of plural marks, said collating system includes
mailing head means for applying said series of mailing labels to
said combinations of signatures in synchronism with the series of
coded indicia which controlled actuation of the delivery means.
23. The improvement of claim 22 wherein said plural marks comprise
different letters having substantially parallel lines representing
binary bits, said letters containing a number of possible
combinations of lines greater than the number of letters, the
decoder means having a number of output lines greater than the
number of letters and corresponding to the number of possible
combinations, and a coding-to-decimal circuit responsive to the
binary bits for generating on the output lines the actuation
signals which correspond to the binary bits.
24. The improvement of claim 20 wherein at least one of said
plurality of delay means includes fixed delay means for shifting
actuation signals stored therein in response to incremental
movements of the collating conveyor and variable delay means for
shifting the actuation signals in response to fractional increments
of movement of said collating conveyor.
25. The improvement of claim 24 wherein the feeder means associated
with the at least one delay means includes timing means for
generating a timing signal when the associated delivery means
should be actuated to properly deliver a signature to an adjacent
station, and said variable delay means includes timing compensation
means automatically responsive to different occurrences of said
timing signal for automatically varying the fractional time delay
produced by said variable delay means.
26. In a collating system having a plurality of feeder means each
responsive to actuation of an associated delivery means for
delivering a signature to an adjacent station spaced along a
collating conveyor, and drive means for operating the collating to
progressively build a plurality of books of signatures at the
plurality of spaced stations, the improvement comprising:
source means for establishing a series of different combinations of
coded indicia which represent different combinations of signatures
which are to be serially delivered from the collating conveyor as
different books of signatures;
first reader means for reading the coded indicia from the source
means to generate a plurality of actuation signals which are to
actuate different ones of the delivery means in accordance with the
different combinations of signatures represented by the coded
indicia;
selective means responsive to the first reader means for
selectively actuating individual delivery means when the associated
feeder means contains a signature which the source means indicates
by the presence of the actuation signals is to be included in the
combination of signatures on the spaced station adjacent the
associated feeder means;
second reader means for reading the coded indicia from the source
means after the coded indicia has been coupled from the first
reader means to the selective means to develop a total thickness
signal representing the thickness of the combination of signatures
represented by the coded indicia; and
caliper means for generating an error indication when a measured
thickness of signatures on the collating conveyor does not match
the total thickness signal from the second reader means.
27. The improvement of claim 26 including selector means responsive
to the coded indicia at an input for generating feeder signals at a
plurality of outputs corresponding to the plurality of feeder
means, summer means for summing the feeder signals to generate the
total thickness signal, and coupling means for coupling the input
of the selector means to the second reader means and the outputs of
the selector means to the summer means.
28. The improvement of claim 27 wherein the coupling means
comprises a multiplexer for coupling the first reader means to the
input of the selector means and the plurality of outputs to the
plurality of delivery means, and for alternatively coupling the
second reader means to the input of the selector means and the
plurality of outputs to the summer means, whereby the selector
means is used in common by the first reader means and the second
reader means.
29. The improvement of claim 26 in which the collating system
includes processing means adjacent the collating conveyor
processing the books of signatures which have been progressively
built at the plurality of spaced stations, the processing means
includes adjustable means having different positions for processing
different thicknesses of books of signatures and movable shaft
means for moving a shaft by an amount corresponding to the total
thickness signal from the second reader means, the shaft driving
the adjustable means to different positions corresponding to the
total thickness signal.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a signature collating and binding system
with selectively controllable signature feeders and other
apparatus.
In prior insertion and binding lines, each new book of signatures
such as forms an edition of a magazine has required an operator to
place new signatures in signature feeders and/or to couple new
signature feeders to the collating line. Various mechanical
settings must be adjusted if the total thickness of the new
collection of signatures changes from the prior thickness setting
for the system. Generally, this set-up procedure requires
adjustment of the final book caliper, the stitcher, and the mail
labeler. The expense and time required to change a line has placed
a limit on the number of different variations of one magazine
edition which could be economically justified. However, it would be
desirable to individually tailor each book of signatures according
to the special interests of each subscriber.
Each variation in an edition of a magazine typically has been
produced by a separate production run. Individual subscribers which
are to receive the same edition, however, are often located in
different postal areas of the country Postal regulations often
require that all mail for each postal area be grouped and handled
as a unit. This requires large warehousing space for holding all
editions, which are then sorted according to destination.
Signature detectors or calipers have been provided on signature
feeder boxes to detect a failure to deliver a signature or a
delivery of more than one signature. Detection of a malfunction has
activated a reject control which causes the defective book of
signatures to be rejected downstream of the collating line,
typically after the stitcher, and also has activated a downstream
shut off to sequentially disable downstream signature feeders as
the collating stations at which the malfunction had occurred is
conveyed adjacent each downstream signature feeder.
Prior book thickness calipers and circuits therefore have had
limited success in determining whether a detected book thickness
represents a desired number of signatures. Each signature page may
have a variable thickness within a given tolerance, resulting in
considerable variation in the overall total thickness of a book of
signatures. Furthermore, the thickness of individual signatures
changes depending on moisture content, humidity of the ambient air,
and other variable factors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, the problems noted above
with prior collating and binding lines have been eliminated. An
information source indicates the special interest of each
subscriber located within the same postal area. In response to the
information source, a control individually actuates the signature
feeders holding signatures which are to be provided for a
particular subscriber, at the proper time that a gathering station
corresponding to an individual subscriber passes the appropriate
signature feeders. The time of actuation is automatically varied as
spacing requirements change due to chain wear.
The overall thickness of books of signatures at adjacent gathering
stations along the collating conveyor varies randomly depending on
the special interests of the subscribers. The mechanical settings
required to compensate for the varying thickness books are
automatically controlled at the necessary times, or the settings
are tolerant of the thickness range. A book thickness caliper and
circuit continuously compares a detected book thickness with the
book thickness which should have been selected under control of the
source information. Any error activates a reject mechanism.
To determine whether a total book thickness from the book thickness
caliper corresponds to a selected number of signatures, two
different embodiments are disclosed. In accordance with one
embodiment, a novel book thickness caliper continuously detects the
actual thickness of books of signatures for comparison with desired
thickness information derived from the data which originally
controlled selective actuation of the signature feeders. For better
accuracy, an alternate embodiment includes a modified control which
automatically produces a trial run. A caliper detects the actual
thickness of each signature produced during the trial run, and
stores this data in a memory. During a later production run, the
stored data is combined and then compared with the output of the
book thickness caliper.
Each signature feeder includes a malfunction detector. Upon
detecting a malfunction, a downstream shut-off control
automatically disables all subsequent signature feeders which have
been enabled by the selective control coupled to the information
source.
A replacement book feeder is located downstream of the reject
mechanism controlled by the book thickness caliper and a reject
mechanism controlled by the signature feeders malfunction
detectors. When an empty conveyor station is detected, a
pre-stitched "standard" replacement book of signatures (not a
special edition) is conveyed to fill the empty conveyor station.
This prevents a loss of synchronism between the books of signatures
and the information source which selectively controlled the feeding
of signatures, and which operates in conjunction with a mailing
label applicator.
One object of this invention is the provision of a signature
collating system having selectively controllable signature feeders
for continuously building different books of signatures on the same
collating conveyor.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a signature
collating system having in combination selectively controllable
signature feeders which can be disabled by a downstream shut-off
control responsive to a malfunction at any feeder.
A further object of this invention is the provision of an improved
signature collating and binding system having a replacement book
feeder for supplying a replacement book of signatures to an empty
conveyor station.
Yet another object of this invention is the provision of a
signature collating and binding system specially adapted for
processing books of signatures of continuously changing thickness,
and of changing spacing with respect to a collating conveyor
chain.
Still a further object of this invention is the provision of a
collating and binding system having an automatically controlled
trial run which provides data for controlling a subsequent
production run.
Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from
the following description, and from the drawings. While
illustrative embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings
and will be described in detail herein, the invention is
susceptible of embodiments in many different forms and it should be
understood that the present disclosure is to be considered as an
exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not
intended to limit the invention of the embodiments illustrated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a signature collating and binding
system and associated control in accordance with the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of a portion of one signature
feeder station, along a saddle stitcher collating line, and which
is shown in block form in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a perspective diagram of the thin book reject station
shown in block form in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a cross-section of the caliper shown in block form in
FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration of a portion of the stitcher
shown in block form in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a cross-section of the replacement book feeder and the
diverter, each shown in block form in FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a cross-section of the mailing head shown in block form
in FIG. 1;
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a portion of the control circuit
shown in block form in FIG. 1;
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another portion of the control
circuit shown in block form in FIG. 1; and
FIG. 10 is a partly block and partly schematic diagram of a
modified control circuit in which a trial collating run provides
information for automatic control of a subsequent production
run.
GENERAL OPERATION OF COLLATING AND BINDING SYSTEM
In FIG. 1, a collating and binding system is illustrated for a
saddle binder or sticher line. Such a system includes a large
number N of signature feeders 20. For clarity, only three feeders
are illustrated, labeled Box 1, Box 2, and Box N. Each feeder 20
has a magazine 22 storing a pluraltiy of signatures 24, which are
individually seized by a vacuum sucker 26 and conveyed onto a
conveyor or gathering station or saddle. Each conveyor station is
defined as an area preceding a pair of pins 30, illustrated in FIG.
3, which extend from a gathering or conveyor chain 32.
Returning to FIG. 1, the conveyor chain 32 is driven by a chain
motor 34 in order to convey each conveyor station adjacent each of
the feeders 20. It should be understood that several separate
chains and associated chain motors may be provided throughout the
entire system, and operated in synchronism, so as to effectively
form a continuous signature conveyor means.
As each conveyor station is progressively driven past feeder
station 20, a signature may be delivered thereto in order to
progressively build books of signatures. After leaving the
collating line of feeders 20, the conveyor station is driven past a
thin book reject station 40 and a book thickness caliper 42 before
reaching a stitcher 44. The stitcher includes one or more
conventional stapler mechanisms for securing together the book of
signatures.
The stitched or stapled book of signatures is conveyed to a
diverter 48 which diverts the book onto a trimmer infeed chain 50
operated in synchronism with the signature conveyor 32. Chain 50
conveys the stitched signatures adjacent a replacement book feeder
52 and into a conventional trimmer 54. The trimmed and stitched
signatures are then conveyed to a mailing head 56 which attaches
preprinted mailing labels 60 by use of a conventional vacuum wheel
62. After receiving the mailing label 60, the operation of the
collating and binding system is completed and the finished product
is ready for delivery.
GENERAL OPERATION OF CONTROL
Control information as to the signatures for a particular
subscriber may be supplied by a magnetic or paper punched tape, by
a central data source, or may be directly contained on the mailing
label 60. By way of example, each mailing label 60 contains a code
70, see FIG. 8, which indicates the signatures to be supplied to a
particular subscriber whose name and address appears on the mailing
label. The labels 60 may be carried on a tape from a label source
72, FIG. 1, located a predetermined distance in advance of the
vacuum wheel 62.
A sufficient number of labels 60 are exposed so that each label
passes a camera 74, labeled Camera 1, when a conveyor station
corresponding thereto approaches the first feeder, Box 1. Each
label 60, conveyed in synchronism with movement of the conveyor
chain 32 and trimmer chain 50, is applied by vacuum wheel 62 at the
time that the corresponding conveyor station has reached the vacuum
wheel. Thus, the mailing labels are attached to the particlar books
of signatures containing the codes which controlled selective
delivery of the signatures.
Camera 74 is coupled to a decoder 80 which processes the optically
scanned information and produces a series of output pulses on
output lines 82 which correspond to the code being scanned. A
programmable selector 84 contains a number of manually selectable
switches that allows an operator to program the control so that the
codes activate desired output lines 1, 2 . . . N which control
corresponding feeder Boxes 1, 2, . . . N. Of course, the same code
on labels for different magazines would not indicate that the same
feeders 20 should be actuated.
Selector 84 allows an operator to preset or program the
interpretation of any code. For example, selector 84 could decode a
particular code and activate output lines 1, 2 and N, indicating
that the label 60 then being scanned by camera 74 requires
signatures from Box 1, Box 2 and Box N. For a different magazine,
and a different setting of selector 84, the same code could
activate output lines 1 and 3, indicating that signatures were
required from Box 1 and Box 3.
Storage and delay means coupled to the output lines from selector
84 control actuation of the feeders 20 in sequence as the
corresponding conveyor station is transported to a predetermined
position in advance of each feeder, at which position the feeder
must be actuated so that the signature feeds to the corresponding
conveyor station. For this purpose, the output lines 1, 2 . . . N
are coupled to individual delay units 88, each of which may
comprise a shift register shifted in synchronism with movement of
the chain 32. Delay 1, which produces the shortest amount of time
delay, generates an output to a Box 1 control 90 when the first
conveyor station is properly oriented with respect to feeder Box 1.
Control 90 energizes (or de-energizes) a vacuum sucker control 92
so as to cause the vacuum sucker 26 to grip an individual signature
24 for delivery to the station which is or shortly will be located
therebeneath.
Delay unit 2 has an additional time delay over delay unit 1 which
is equal to the time necessary for the conveyor station to travel
from Box 1 to Box 2. The Box 2 control 90 has an output as the
conveyor station corresponding to the previously read label 60
reaches feeder Box 2. It should be noted that the previously read
label 60 will have been stepped by source 72 a corresponding
distance (closer to mailing head 56) in synchronism with the
movement of the conveyor chain 32.
Each subsequent delay 88 produces an additional time delay
corresponding to the distance between feeders 20. If selector 84
had not produced an output on any particular output line, the
corresponding delay unit 88 would not have received an energizing
signal, and its corresponding box control 90 would not have been
enabled when the conveyor station was adjacent thereto. Thus, the
control selectively actuates the feeders 20 so as to progressively
build on the conveyor stations books which may contain different
signatures, as controlled by the information contained on the
mailing labels 60.
Book thickness caliper 42 located downstream from the last feeder
Box N determines whether the total thickness of a book of
signatures corresponds to the number of signatures which should
have been selected under control of the code carried by the label
corresponding to that book. This requires that the coded control
information be retained and delayed until the corresponding book
reaches caliper 42. The necessity for additional shift registers or
other delay means is eliminated by locating a second camera 100,
labeled Camera 2, at a position to scan each label 60 which had
been read by camera 74 at the time that the book corresponding
thereto reaches caliper 42.
The code read by camera 100 is translated into a thickness signal
representing the number of signatures which should have been
selected. This calculated signal is coupled to a comparator 102 for
comparison with an actual thickness signal from a sensor 104 in
caliper 42. Thus, the second camera serves to preclude the need for
additional shift registers and serves as a proofreader for the
first camera, insuring that the system will not apply labels out of
sequence to several books of signatures, should the labels become
out-of-phase with the books due to some system malfunction.
Camera 2 requires use of some of the same decoding circuits as used
for Camera 1. While duplicate circuits could be provided, a time
sharing circuit allows circuits to be used in common. A multiplexer
110 and a demultiplexer 112, located between decoder 80 and
selector 84, effectively switches optical decoding circuits between
cameras 74 and 100. When camera 74 is to be effective, multiplexer
110 connects the video output of camera 74 to decoder 80, and
demultiplexer 112 connects the output lines from selector 84 to the
inputs of delay units 88. Conversely, when camera 100 is to be
effective, multiplexer 110 connects the video output of camera 100
to decoder 80, and demultiplexer 112 connects the output lines from
selector 84 to a summer 116 associated with the caliper channel.
The time necessary to scan a label by either camera is a small
fraction of the time each label is within the scanning field of the
cameras.
When camera 100 is effective, summer 116 adds together the number
of signatures (with appropriate scale factors, if desired) which
should have been delivered to the conveyor station then adjacent
the caliper 42, as represented by actuated ones of the lines 1, 2 .
. . N. The resulting digital representation of the total thickness
of signatures is coupled to a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter 120
which produces on output line 121 an analog signal having a
magnitude corresponding to the digital input to the converter 120.
Line 121 is coupled directly to an analog input 124 of the
comparator 102.
The output of sensor 104 is an analog signal having a magnitude
corresponding to the thickness of a book then contacting a sensing
probe 126. A cycle control switch 130 produces an output signal
when the probe 126 is contacting a portion of the book which will
provide valid thickness information. Switch 130 enables an analog
gate 132 which passes the analog signal from sensor 104 directly to
a second analog input 134 of comparator 102.
Comparator 102 is a conventional analog voltage comparator which
determines whether the analog signals at inputs 124 and 134 are
substantially equal. If the signals are equal, comparator 102 does
not produce any output. However, if the analog signals are unequal
by at least a predetermined range, comparator 102 produces an error
pulse output which is coupled to a shift register delay unit 136.
Delay 136 produces a time delay C which corresponds to the time
necessary for the book then being read by caliper 42 to travel past
stitcher 44 and to the diverter 48. An error output from comparator
102 thus synchronously follows the book and actuates a book
selector 140 to cause the book to be diverted to a reject station
142. Book selector 140 normally diverts books onto the trimmer
chain 50, and thus no output from comparator 102 allows the book to
pass without being rejected.
Books which have not been rejected are conveyed by trimmer chains
50 past replacement book feeder 52 to the trimmer 54, and then to
the mailing head 56. The mailing head includes a height control 150
which adjusts the relative height of the vacuum wheel 62 relative
to a label base carrier. The height adjustment 150 is controlled by
a digital thickness signal from summer 116, after passing through a
shift register time delay unit 152 which produces a time delay E
corresponding to the time necessary for a book to be transported
from caliper 42 to the mailing head 56.
Certain of the mechanical settings for the binding line must be
adjusted or compensated for the continually varying thickness of
the books being delivered thereto. Some machines such as trimmer 54
may be constructed to accept a variety of thicknesses without
requiring adjustment. However, other machines such as stitcher 44
require a thickness setting of other mechanical offset for each
book being delivered thereto. A thickness adjustment control 156 on
stitcher 44 is responsive to a digital thickness signal from a
shift register delay unit 158 coupled to summer 116. Digital delay
unit 158 produces a time delay D which is equal to the time
required for a book to travel from caliper 42 to stitcher 44.
Each feeder 20 includes a detector switch 160 which has an output
when a malfunction occurs at that feeder. For a saddle binder line,
switch 160 may comprise a missing signature switch which produces
an error signal when the feeder has failed to deliver a signature.
For other types of collating and binding lines, switch 160 may take
other forms, such as a double signature detector actuated when two
signatures are fed in response to one feeder actuation.
Each detector switch 160 is coupled to a set input of a
corresponding flip-flop stage in a downstream shut-off shift
register 162. The shift register 162 has a number of stages equal
to or greater than the number of feeders 20, to cause a pulse
stored in the shift register 162 to be shifted therethrough in
synchronism with the movement of the conveyor chain 32. Each
register stage just prior to a feeder (except for the first feeder)
has a disable output line 164 which is coupled to the box control
90 for that adjacent feeder.
By way of example, it will be assumed that switch 160 in Box 1 has
detected a malfunction. The resulting error signal is stored in
shift register 162 and is shifted in synchronism with movement of
the conveyor chain 32 and hence with movement of the conveyor
station at which a malfunction had occurred. Just prior to the
conveyor station reaching Box 2, the disable line 164 connected to
Box 2 control 90 has an output which disables the control,
preventing an enable output (if any) from delay 2 from actuating
sucker control 92. Meanwhile, the error signal continues to be
shifted through the shift register 162, disabling each box control
90 as the conveyor station with the defective book of signature(s)
reaches the feeder 20 corresponding thereto. The final output from
the collating line is a "thin" book which is missing a number of
signatures proportional to the position at which a malfunction
first occurred.
The thin book could be allowed to pass through caliper 42 and
stitcher 44 for rejection by the diverter 48. However, the possible
substantial lack of thickness of the book could cause the stitcher
44 to malfunction. Therefore, thin book reject station 40 is
located prior to the location of the stitcher 44. The reject
station 40 includes a diverter solenoid 170 which, when actuated,
diverts a thin book of signatures from conveyor chain 32 to a
reject book station 172. To actuate solenoid 170, a shift register
delay unit 174 is interposed between the last stage of shift
register 162 and the solenoid 170. Delay unit 174 has a time delay
A which corresponds to the time necessary for a book to travel from
the last feeder box N to the thin book reject station 40. Thus, the
error signal which causes a downstream shut-off of the feeders
ultimately actuates solenoid 170 in order to reject the thin
book.
If a particular stitcher 44 has a sufficient tolerance to thickness
variations, or if only a small number of feeders 20 are being
utilized, then thin book reject station 40 may be eliminated and
delay unit 176 may be interposed between the output of delay unit
174 and the input of delay unit 136. Delay unit 176 may be a shift
register having a time delay B corresponding to the time necessary
for a book to travel from a position corresponding to station 40 to
caliper 42. Thus, the error signal would be shifted by a time delay
A+B+C and cause actuation of book selector 140 when the thin book
reached the diverter 48. If desired, delay unit 176 may be used in
addition to reject station 40, as a safety precaution to insure
that a thin book does not reach the mailing head 56 due to a
malfunction of the thin book reject station 40 and/or the caliper
42.
To shift all of the delay units and the shift registers, a shift
control 180 driven by motor 34 generates shift pulses for recurring
equal increments of movement of the conveyor chain 32.
Replacement book feeder 52 causes a replacement book of signatures
to be fed to the trimmer chain 50 in order to replace books which
have been rejected by stations 40 and 48. A switch 184 is located
to detect an empty conveyor station at a time when a book should be
present. Upon detection of an empty conveyor station, the switch
184 actuates a valve solenoid 186 to cause a replacement book to be
conveyed to the empty conveyor station. Thus, the label 60
corresponding to a previously rejected book will be applied to the
replacement book, insuring that subsequent labels do not lose
synchronism with their associated books of signatures.
Should the replacement book feeder 52 fail to operate, a loss of
synchronism between the labels 60 and the books of signatures would
result. To prevent this occurrence, a switch 188 is located to
detect an empty conveyor station just prior to the mailing head 56.
Should an empty station be detected by switch 188 when a book of
signatures should be present, a master stop control 190 is actuated
and disables chain motor 34 to stop both the conveyor chain 32 and
the trimmer chain 50. After an operator has rectified the error and
has placed a replacement book at the detected empty position, the
stop control 190 is deactuated in order to allow continued
operation of the system. Certain of the novel machine components
and controls shown in block form in FIG. 1 will now be described
with reference to the remaining drawings.
SELECTIVELY ACTUABLE FEEDER
In FIG. 2, a feeder station 20 is partially illustrated. Each
feeder 20 has a primary drum or cylinder 200, a transfer drum or
wheel 202, and an opener drum or wheel 204, driven in synchronism
by means of a main drive mechanism 206 coupled through a clutch
(not illustrated) to a common drive shaft. The clutch allows the
main drive mechanism 206 to be coupled to the main drive shaft at
any desired point in the delivery cycle. This allows the feeders to
be located at distances different than the original spacing between
each saddle, i.e., the original distance between pins 30 in FIG.
3.
Vacuum sucker 26 is coupled to a conventional slide valve which in
turn is coupled to an output line 210 of a valve 212 which
alternately connects line 210 between a vacuum line 214 and an
exhaust line 216. Valve control 92 controls the state of valve 212.
During each cycle of operation of the feeder, vacuum sucker 26 is
extended and the vacuum is applied in order to pull an individual
signature away from the magazine and against the cylinder 200,
where it is retained by a primary drum gripper 220 and is pulled
around the upper cylinder 200 as the cylinder is rotated by the
main drive mechanism 206.
At the farthest extent of its travel, the primary drum gripper 220
releases the signature into a register stop. Tucker blades position
the lower portion of the signature into the transfer drum and
grippers 224. The opener drun 204 then rotates so that the short
fold of the signature comes in contact with an open gripper 226 on
wheel 202. The open gripper 226 separates the short fold from the
long fold as the signature approaches the saddle chain 32. Both
folds are then released from grippers 224 and 226 and the signature
is forced down over the gathering chain saddle in a known manner.
Missing signature detector switch 160 is located at any suitable
position so as to detect whether the primary drum 200 has received
a signature.
If desired, the vacuum control 92 may be replaced by a mechanical
solenoid control 92', shown in dashed lines, which mechanically
latches the vacuum sucker 26 to prevent its engagement with a
signature. For this purpose, the vacuum valve 92 is replaced by the
mechanical solenoid which operates a linkage 230 in order to rotate
a latch or catch 232 into engagement with the conventional
mechanism which extends the vacuum sucker 26 when a new signature
is to be gripped.
The system control must actuate either of the controls 92 or 92' at
the proper point in the feeder cycle of operation. Otherwise, an
individual signature will be delivered too soon or too late with
respect to the saddle pins 30 (see FIG. 3). To detect the proper
time for actuation of control 92 or 92', a proximity switch 236 has
a probe 238 which rides on a timing cam 240 rotated in synchronism
with the primary drum gripper 200 and hence in synchronism with the
main drive mechanism 206. The actuating portion of cam 240 is
located so that the proximity switch 236 is actuated immediately
prior to the proper time for actuation of control 92 or 92'. The
output of the proximity switch 236 is coupled to the box control
90, as will be explained later. For clarity, this timing connection
has not been illustrated in FIG. 1. The remaining operation of the
feeder is conventional and will not be described further.
THIN BOOK REJECT
In FIG. 3, the thin book reject station 40 is illustrated in
detail. A pair of lifter arms 250 is illustrated in broken lines in
a lowered or bypass position and in solid lines in a raised or
reject position. Arms 250 are pivotally mounted on a base plate 254
which supports the lift solenoid 170. When the solenoid 170 is
actuated (as illustrated), a solenoid arm 256 is pulled into the
solenoid 170, pivoting a lever 258 and connected link 260 so as to
rotate a pivoted plate 262 downwardly within a central opening in
plate 254. The connection to plate 262 and the pivot connection of
the arms 250 to plate 254 causes the lifter arms 250 to rise from
the bypass position and converge adjacent a reject book guide 270.
The pressure of the pins 30 against the book of signatures 24
causes the book of signatures to ride up the lifter arms 250 and
via the book guide 270 to pairs of oppositely rotating pinch
rollers 274 and 276 which pull the book off of the gathering chain
32 and into a second book guide 280 with pinch rollers connected so
as to deposit the rejected pin books in the reject tray 272.
When lift solenoid 170 is not actuated, the lifter arms 250 remain
in the bypass position in which the gathering chain 32 and pins 30
convey a book of signatures past the reject station 40 and to the
remaining stations of the binding line.
BOOK THICKNESS CALIPER
In FIG. 4, the caliper 42 is illustrated in detail. Sensor 140 may
comprise a linear variable-differential transformer (LVDT) which
has an output voltage proportional to the linear distance a probe
mechanism 126 is offset or extending with respect to the stator
portion of the LVDT. The fixed or stator portion is mounted to a
bracket 300 which is fixed with respect to the gathering chain 32.
The LVDT probe mechanism 126 is formed as, or can be attached to, a
yoke shaped member which rotatably mounts a roller 302 which
engages a disc 304 mounted on a linearly movable, spring loaded
shaft 306. The disc 304 extends through an opening in a guard plate
308 which supports the book of signatures 24 as it is conveyed past
the caliper station 42.
To support the book of signatures opposite the movable probe
assembly, a quadrant cam 310 is rotatably mounted to a timing shaft
312 which is rotated in synchronism with movement of the conveyor
chain 32. Timing switch 130 is located so as to be actuated only
when the extending quadrant of the cam 310 is engaging the book of
signatures. When a book of signatures is properly located with
respect to the disc 304, the quadrant of the cam 310 presses
against the other side of the signatures in order to form a fixed
reference position.
The probe 126 is urged by a spring 314 outwardly with respect to
the stator of the LVDT 140. This causes the roller 132 to linearly
move the disc 304 against the signatures which are being supported
by the quadrant cam 310. The gap between the disc 304 and the cam
310 corresponds to the thickness of the signatures, and hence the
output of the LVDT 140 while switch 130 is actuated represents the
total book thickness. If desired, a dash pot 316 may be attached to
the rotor shaft of the LVDT 140. Movable shaft 306 may be
constrained against movement beyond a position which represents a
zero caliper gap with respect to the cam 310. The shaft 312 rotates
the cam 310 beyond a position which actuates switch 130 before the
book of signatures is transported by the gathering chain 32 beyond
the caliper station 42.
STITCHER THICKNESS COMPENSATION
In FIG. 5, the thickness adjustment or compensation mechanism for
the stitcher 44 is illustrated in detail. One or more conventional
stitcher heads 330 are driven reciprocally by a stitcher drive 332
which rotates a driver cam 334 and a bender cam 336. A follower
driver linkage 340 transfers motion of the driver cam 334 to a
driver bar 342. Similarly, a follower bender linkage 344 transmits
the eccentric motion of the bender cam 336 to a bender bar 346. The
driver bar 342 and bender bar 346 are connected to any desired
number of stitcher heads 330 in order to simulatneously drive all
stitcher heads downwardly against an adjacent book of signatures
42, as it is held against the gathering chain 32 by a holddown roll
350 and a slide gripper 352.
A position adjustable link 354 interconnects the pair of follower
linkages 340 and 344 and controls the thickness adjustment for the
stitcher. The link 354 is moved upwardly to provide an adjustment
for thinner books, and is moved downwardly to set the stitcher for
thicker books. Vertical adjustment of the link 354 is controlled by
an eccentric 360 which includes a link 362 and associated over
travel spring 364 attached to a fork 366 which slidably engages a
pin 368 of an eccentric cam 370 which has a one-to-one relationship
with the stitcher. As is well known, rotation of the eccentric cam
370 will vertically adjust the height of eccentric 360 which bears
against adjustable link 354, thereby adjusting the stitcher for
different thickness books.
In accordance with the present invention, a digital position
transducer 156 has an axially positionable shaft 374 which moves
vertically in proportion to a digital signal which is coupled to
the transducer 156. A cam stop 376 is attached to the end of the
shaft 374 and forms a stop or restraining surface for the link 362.
The arcuate shape of the restraining surface produces an adjustable
stop for different vertical positions of the shaft 374.
Alternatively, the transducer could control a small hydraulic servo
system which would move the stop, thus increasing the available
amount of torque. Since the stitcher thickness adjustment need not
be highly accurate, the stepped cam stop mechanism can be
responsive to only the most significant bit outputs of the summer
116.
REPLACEMENT BOOK FEEDER
In FIG. 6, diverter station 48 and replacement book feeder 52 are
shown in detail. The diverter station 48 is conventional and
includes a drive roller 400 which conveys books to the trimmer
infeed conveyor chain 50, and a drive roller 402 which serves to
convey books to the reject tray 142. A tucker blade mechanism 404
along with pickup rollers 401 urge the book upwardly to one of the
drive rollers.
Trimmer infeed chain 50 includes a plurality of lugs 410 which
carry the books past the replacement book feeder 52 and towards the
trimmer. A book hopper 412 carries in an upper or buffer section a
plurality of replacement books 414 for filling an empty conveyor
space. A pair of minimum pile height detectors 418 and 419 maintain
a minimum height of replacement books within a lower or active
store section of the book hopper 412. When the books in the lower
section fall below the height of detectors 418 and 419, a pile
height controller 420 is actuated to release a predetermined height
of replacement books, which fall to replenish the diminishing
supply of replacement books held in the active section.
The lower section of the book hopper 412 includes a book pile
support 422 which is lowered when a book is to be fed to a
replacement book flight chain 424. The position of the support 422
is controlled by an air cylinder 426 which is pneumatically
controlled by a valve solenoid 186. The valve solenoid also
includes a section for pneumatically controlling a vacuum slide 430
which grips and releases the lowermost replacement book during a
replacement cycle. The vacuum slide is reciprocally driven by a
link 434 operated under control of a shuttle cam 436.
Detector switch 184 has an extending arm 440 which is lowered when
no book is located in front of a lug 410. This transmits a signal
to a control 442 which actuates solenoid valve 186 when the signal
is present at a time when the arm 440 should be contacting a book.
A timing signal which indicates that a book should be present may
be a switch positioned to be tripped by lugs 410, or a timing cam
and switch operated in synchronism with movement of chain 50.
When valve 186 is actuated, air cylinder 126 lowers support 422
while the vacuum slide 430 grips the lowermost replacement book.
The shuttle cam 436 is then rotated, causing link 434 and connected
vacuum slide 430 to be moved to the right as illustrated in FIG. 6.
This moves the lowermost replacement book into engagement with
speeder rollers 450. As the replacement book enters the speeder
rollers 450, the valve solenoid 186 releases the vacuum on the
vacuum slide 430. The replacement book is conveyed onto a slide 454
and is urged by lugs 456 on chain 424 downwardly until it falls
onto the empty conveyor station. Meanwhile, the shuttle cam 436
moves the vacuum slide 430 back to the illustrated position, and
solenoid valve 186 actuates air cylinder 426 in order to move the
support 422 upwardly in preparation for the next replacement
cycle.
MAILING HEAD ADJUSTMENT
In FIG. 7, the mailing head height adjustment mechanism is
illustrated in detail. The mailing label vacuum wheel 62 is fixed
in height and operates in a conventional manner to attach
individual labels 60 to the book of signatures being transported
thereby. Conventional means (not illustrated) feeds the tape of
mailing labels to the vacuum wheel 62 and conveys the books of
signatures past the vacuum wheel.
A book carrier, such as a brass shoe 470, is vertically adjustable
in height under control of a hydraulic cylinder 150 which is
controlled by the digital signal from delay unit 152 (see FIG. 1),
which signal in turn may comprise only the two most significant
bits from summer 116 to provide a thick, medium, thin, or zero
adjust. Each digital increase causes a shaft 472 to extend further
outwardly against a link 474. The link 474 is pivotally mounted to
a base 476, and has an opposed end which is pivotally mounted to
the shoe 470. A leveling link 480, similar to link 474, is
pivotally mounted to base 476 and to shoe 470 in order to maintain
the shoe 470 in a horizontal plane. The leading edge 482 of the
shoe 470 is inclined to allow passage of the book of signatures
from a lower guide plate 484 onto the top of shoe 470.
In operation, the thickness adjustment mechanism for the mailing
head raises or lowers each individual book of signatures with
respect to the fixed vacuum wheel 62. The vacuum wheel has been
fixed in height since the inertia of the shoe 470 is considerably
less than the inertia of the vacuum wheel 62 and associated feed
mechanism. However, it will be appreciated that the vacuum wheel
could be made adjustable with respect to a fixed height lower
support for the books of signatures.
CODE DECODER AND SELECTOR CIRCUITS
In FIG. 8, a portion of the optical scanning and decoding circuits
shown in block form in FIG. 1 have been illustrated in detail. Code
70 on each mailing label 60 consists of a track or space mark 500
followed by binary coded demographic data, such as can be
represented by four letter fonts or characters which represent
eight binary bits. Each vertically extending line in the letter
characters represent a 1 bit, whereas no vertically extending line
at the corresponding bit location represents a 0 bit. The code 70
is read by cameras 74 and 100 during horizontal scan periods which
cover or scan the intermediate portion of the characters, so that
the top and bottom portions of the characters have no code
significance. This allows a single conventional font, either typed
or printed, to represent two binary bits. In the present example,
the character L represents the binary bits 10; the character J
represents the bits 01; the character O represents the bits 11; and
no letter (a blank space) represents the bits 00. Thus, eight
binary bits are represented by only four letters. Space mark 500
has a black area of a width greater than any letter or number
character on the entire mailing label 60.
Cameras 74 and 100 may comprise conventional remote control TV
cameras focused so that their field of view is limited to that
portion of the label that contains the coding 70. Since the labels
are neither accurately stopped nor accurately printed with respect
to each other, the scanning operation is not limited to only a
single pass, but rather the entire intermediate height area in
which the code 70 may be located is scanned a plurality of
times.
Decoder 80 is coupled by multiplexer 110 to either camera 74 or
camera 100. Assuming by way of example that camera 74 is coupled by
multiplexer 110 to decoder 80, the video output signal therefrom is
coupled to an AND gate 510. The other input to AND gate 510 is a
new label signal generator 512, which is interconnected with the
label source 72 (FIG. 1) in order to generate a new label signal
when the labels are sequenced or stepped so that a new label
appears in the scanning field. The video signals are gated to a
black level detector 514 which has an output on a line 515 whenever
the video signals fall into a black level range.
The black level signals on line 515 are coupled to a mark width
detector 518 which produces an output signal on a line 519 only
when the black level signal on line 515 exists for a predetermined
length of time which corresponds to the width of the space mark
500. When this occurs, line 519 has an output which occurs
simultaneously with the trailing edge of the space mark. This
output is coupled to a logic gate 522 and to a counter 524.
To increase reliability, the space mark must be detected for a
predetermined number of TV scan lines. Counter 524 counts each
trailing edge of the space mark, as indicated by the signal on line
519, until a predetermined count is reached which corresponds to an
intermediate height position of the space mark 500 and associated
coding characters 70. The predetermined count causes counter 524 to
produce an enabling output which is coupled to logic gate 522.
Upon detection of the next trailing edge of the space mark, logic
gate 522 has both of its inputs enabled. This produces an enabling
output to an AND gate 530 and an AND gate 532. The enabling output
lasts for a predetermined length of time corresponding to the time
necessary to complete one horizontal scan of the four code
characters. After the lapse of this time period, logic gate 522
disables the AND gates 530 and 532. The AND gate 530 allows an
output pulse to be coupled to a binary-to-decimal circuit 536 for
each occurrence of a black signal while logic gate 522 has an
enabling output. Each black signal in turn represents a vertical
line of one of the code letters.
A high frequency clock 538 produces a clock pulse each time the TV
camera has scanned to a position at which a vertical line should
appear if a 1 bit is present. The first clock pulse passed by AND
gate 532 steps a binary counter 540 to an output representing 0001.
The binary-to-decimal circuit 536 is responsive to the 0001 count
to couple the output of the AND gate 530 to the first output line.
If a 1 bit is now present, the black signal will be passed through
circuit 536 and recorded in a summer 544. If a 0 bit was present,
the summer 544 would not record a signal.
As the TV scan signal reaches the next bit position, clock 538 has
a second clock pulse which causes binary counter 540 to step to
output 0010. This causes circuit 536 to connect the output from AND
gate 530 to the second summer 544 (second from the right as
illustrated in FIG. 8). The above described operation continues
until clock 538 has counted through the last binary bit position.
Shortly thereafter, the enabling output from gate 522 is terminated
and the AND gates 530 and 532 are blocked.
During the next horizontal scan period, the space mark 500 will
again be detected by detector 518, producing an output on line 519
which again enables logic gate 522 (since counter 524 still has an
enabling output). Gate 522 in turn enables AND gates 530 and 532,
allowing a new counting cycle to be initiated. Binary-to-decimal
circuit 536 again passes pulses occurring at the time slot or
location of the bit positions to corresponding ones of the summers
544.
The summers 544 produce output signals only when a predetermined
count or sum is reached, which may be varied depending on the
quality of the characters which form the code 70. The summers 544
thus allow for discontinuities in printing, while insuring that a
spurious spot on the label 60 will not produce a falso bit output.
After a preselected number of intermediate lines have been scanned,
a circuit (not illustrated) clears counter 524, thus resetting the
decoder 80 for the next decoding operation. Output lines 82 of
summers 544 thus have signals representing 1 or 0 bits, depending
on whether the predetermined count was reached in the corresponding
summers.
Similar binary codes will represent different signatures to be
delivered depending on the particular edition of a magazine being
produced. Selector 84 contains a plurality of manually actuable
switches which allow an operator to program the selector so that
any 1 or 0 bit, on any of the output lines 82, will enable a
desired Box 1, 2 . . . N. A plurality of Box 1 switches 550 allow
any one of the output lines 82 to be interconnected with a line 551
which controls Box 1. A plurality of switches 554 allows any of the
output lines 82 to be interconnected with a line 555 representing
Box 2. The above described pattern continues through a plurality of
switches 558 which allow any of the output lines 82 to be
interconnected to the last output lines 559 corresponding to Box
N.
The output lines from the selector 84 are coupled to the
demultiplexer 112 which switches the lines to delay units 88, if
camera 74 is coupled by multiplexer 110 to decoder 80, or to the
summer 116 if multiplexer 110 is coupling camera 100 to decoder 80.
A multiplex control 565 produces a signal when multiplexer 110 and
demultiplexer 112 should couple the decoder 80 between camera 74
and the delay units 88. An oppositely going signal from multiplex
control 565 causes decoder 80 to be switched between camera 100 and
the summers 116. Demultiplexer 112 may take any conventional form,
such as a plurality of switches 567 which interconnect the Box
input line to either of two outputs depending on a switching signal
on a line 568 from the multiplex control 565.
FEEDER DELAY AND CONTROL CIRCUITS
In FIg. 9, the delay 88 and box control 90 for each of the feeders
is shown in detail. By way of example, the illustrrated feeded is
identified as Box N, but it will be understood that the circuit is
the same for each feeder. Delay unit 88 comprises a shift register
having a number of stages corresponding to the number of
incremental distances between a reference position just preceding
Box 1 to the Box N position. Each binary 0 to 1 bit from the
selector output line N is entered in the illustrated shift register
88 and is shifted downwardly for each shift pulse from the shift
control 180 (FIG. 1). When the corresponding gathering station
reaches Box N, a shift pulse shifts to an output line connected
with Box control 90 the bit for that gathering station.
Control 90 provides an automatic fractional adjustment of the
length of a shift register which corresponds to one stage of the
shift register 88. This provides an automatic timing adjustment to
compensate for "growth" of the collating chain 32. As is well
known, wear between the connecting pins of a collating chain causes
the inter-book distance to "grow" or lengthen over the useful life
of the chain. Although the number of collating stations remains
constant, the distance between stations increases sufficiently to
require compensation.
Typically, this is accomplished by an operator disabling the feeder
clutch (see prior discussion on Selectively Actuable Feeder), and
moving the feeder station with respect to the master drive shaft.
Then, the clutch is engaged in order that the master drive shaft
will drive the cycle chain 260 (see FIG. 2) at a proper time in the
delivery cycle so that a signature is properly fed onto the saddle.
Thus, the distance between adjacent feeders is manually changed
over the useful life of a collating chain.
Box control 90 allows the overall length of the fractional stages
to be lengthened or shortened so that feed solenoid 92 is actuated
at the proper time when the proximity switch 236 indicates that a
signature is to be fed onto an adjacent saddle. Any change in
feeder position, which in turn produces a slight change in the
timing cycle as indicated by an increase or decrease in time when
switch 236 is actuated, is automatically compensated for by the
illustrated circuit.
An eight-stage shift register 600 has a separate output line 601
from each of the eight stages. The output lines 601 are coupled to
inputs of a multiplexer 604 which has a single output line 605. The
multiplexer 604, in response to a binary count on input lines 1, 2
and 4 from a binary counter 608, couples a corresponding one of the
lines 601 to the line 605. For example, if binary counter 608
maintains a binary output 100 on lines 4, 2 and 1, respectively,
multiplexer 604 causes the fourth input line 601 to be directly
coupled to output line 605. Thus, all pulses on the fourth line 601
will be directly passed to line 605.
The multiplexer output line 605 forms a data input to a five-stage
shift register 610 having individual stages 611, 612, 613, 614 and
615. A shift input of shift register 610 is coupled to a clock 620
which operates at five times the rate of the shift control 180 of
FIG. 1. The output of clock 620 is also coupled to the shift input
of shift register 600. Thus for each single shift operation of
shift register 88, clock 620 causes shift registers 600 and 610 to
shift five times.
If binary counter 608 receives a pulse on an UP input line, as the
result of an operator change, the binary output count is increased
by one binary number. This causes multiplexer 604 to connect the
next decimal higher line 601 to output line 605. Since the next
higher output line 601 is connected to the next stage of the shift
register 600, the output pulses on line 605 occur one clock cycle
(of clock 620) later, that is, 1/5 cycle later with respect to the
shift pulses to shift register 88. This results in the feed
solenoid 92 being actuated at a later increment of time,
corresponding to 1/5 cycle. Conversely, if binary counter 208 had
received a pulse on a DOWN input line, the output count would have
been decreased by one, causing multiplexer 604 to connect an
earlier stage of shift register 600 to output line 605. This
results in feed solenoid 92 being actuated at an earlier increment
of time in the delivery cycle.
An UP logic circuit 630 determines from shift register 610 and
proximity switch 236 when the binary counter 608 must be stepped up
by one count. Conversely, a DOWN logic circuit 632 determines from
the shift register 610 and proximity switch 236 when the binary
counter 608 must be stepped down a count in order to react to an
operator change. These logic circuits are effective when a 1
control bit is present, that is, when a feeder solenoid is to be
actuated. Of course, when a 0 control bit is present, the solenoid
92 is not actuated. A 0 control bit can cause a change if preceded
or followed by a 1. If the circuit were to receive only 1's or only
0's it would not work. It takes either followed or preceded by the
other, and therefore may take several cycles to compensate for an
operator adjustment.
Logic circuit 630 is onnected to the output lines of stages 611 and
612, and produces an output pulse on the UP line when stages 611
and 612 register a 01 or 10, respectively, at the time when
proximity switch 236 produces a gating pulse. If stages 611 and 612
have either a 00 or a 11 output at this time, circuit 630 does not
produce any output pulse. Logic circuit 632 is similar to circuits
630, but is connected to the output lines of stage 614 and 615. If
these stages have either a 01 or 10 output when switch 236
generates a gating pulse, then a pulse is produced on the DOWN
output line. However, if stages 614 and 615 have either a 00 or 11
output when the pulse from switch 236 occurs, then no pulse is
generated.
When control 90 is properly timed, shift register 610 receives the
same control bit in all five stages 611-615 at the time that switch
236 has an output. As a result, neither the UP logic circuit 630
nor the DOWN logic circuit 632 produce an output which would change
the count then being maintained by the binary counter 608. The
center stage 613 is coupled to an AND gate 636 which also receives
an input from the proximity switch 236. When the proximity switch
provides a gating output, the control bit then stored in stage 613
is gated through AND gate 636. If a 1 bit is stored, feed solenoid
92 is actuated and causes a signature to be fed onto the adjacent
saddle. If a 0 bit is stored, then AND gate 636 would not pass a
pulse to feed solenoid 92.
Due to chain wear, it will be assumed that an operator has
disengaged a feeder clutch and has moved the illustrated feeder
station N further downstream. It should be noted that the count
previously held in binary counter 608 will not be proper for the
new position of the feeder station. When the feeder clutch is now
engaged, pulses will be coupled through multiplexer 604 to shift
register 610, as previously described. However, when the first
entered control bit reaches the last stage 615, proximity switch
236 will not produce an output pulse because the feeder is
operating at a later point in time.
The next clock pulse from clock 620 causes the first entered
control bit (herein assumed to be a 1 bit) to be shifted out of the
last stage 615, i.e., the pulse is cleared. The last entered 1
control bit is not shifted to stage 612. As a result, the stage 611
records a 0 bit while stage 612 records a 1 bit when proximity
switch 236 has an output pulse. This causes circuit 630 to produce
a pulse and step up binary counter 608 by one unit in order to
compensate for the new position of the feeder station. The middle
stage 613 still allows the feed solenoid 92 to be actuated at the
proper time.
Downstream shut-off shift register 162 comprises a number of
separate stages, such as flip-flop FF, which shift pulses to the
right as illustrated in FIG. 9. Each Box control 90 corresponds to
a particular FF stage in register 162. When AND gate 640 receives
an enabling pulse from both AND gate 636 and from the output of the
missing signature switch 160, and error pulse is recorded in an FF
stage 642 which corresponds to the position of control 90. Assuming
that control 90 represents other than the last feeder, then the
error pulse is shifted to the right in order to disable downstream
feed solenoids 92 when the collating station at which the error had
occurred reaches each of those feeder positions.
At each feeder, a FF stage 644 preceding state 642 has an output
which disables AND gate 636 when an error pulse is shifted to that
stage. This blocks enabling of feed solenoid 92 even though a 1
control bit is present in stage 613 when switch 236 has an output.
The stage 644 may be a stage immediately prior to stage 642, or may
be prior by a plurality of stages, depending on timing requirements
which in turn depends on the distance represented by each stage in
shift register 162.
TRIAL RUN DATA CONTROLS PRODUCTION RUN
The control system of FIG. 1 may be modified as illustrated in FIG.
10 in order to automatically control a trail run, monitor the
actual thickness of books produced during the trial run, and then
control a production run by using data developed during the trial
run. Only so much of the control as has been changed, or which is
necessary for an understanding of the invention, has been
illustrated in FIG. 10. It should be noted that a separate decoder
80 and selector 84 have been provided for each of the cameras 74
and 100, eliminating the multiplexer and demultiplexer previously
used. The portions of the circuit not illustrated may take the form
previously described.
After the collating and binding line has been adjusted to produce
new books of signatures, the selectors 84 are set identically. The
chain motor is energized, and then a set up switch 650 is actuated
in order to automatically produce a trial run of signatures. An AND
gate 654, in response to actuation of the set-up switch 650 and the
occurrence of a shift pulse from the shift control 180, passes a
pulse to a number generator 656 which may comprise a ring counter
for sequentially actuating each output line. In turn, each output
line is coupled to a different one of the delay units 88, in order
to actuate the associated Box control 90 when the collating station
reaches the associated feeder. For example, the first output pulse
from AND gate 654 will cause number generator 656 to actuate delay
1. Upon the occurrence of the second shift pulse from shift control
180, the second pulse from AND gate 654 will cause number generator
656 to actuate its second output line, thereby actuating delay 2
(not illustrated). Each feeder box is likewise sequentially
actuated so that the output of the collating line is a series of
individual signatures each from a different feeder.
During the trail run, decoder 80 and selector 84 associated with
camera 1 are inoperative. The set-up switch 650 produces a signal
which is negated by a NOT gate 664 in order to disable an AND gate
662 which is inserted between camera 1 and the decoder 80.
At the same time that number generator 656 is enabled by a shift
pulse from AND gate 654, the shift pulse is also coupled to a delay
shift register 670 having a time delay equal to the time required
for a collating station to travel past the entire collating line,
the thin book reject station, and reach caliper 42. At the time
when the station has reached caliper 42, delay 670 produces a pulse
to a write counter 672, which may be similar to number generator
656. The write counter 672 individually actuates the write gate of
a memory 680 corresponding to the feeder box which had delivered
the signal then passing the caliper 42.
For example, the first pulse passed by AND gate 654 causes number
generator 656 to actuate delay 1 and the Box 1 control. At the time
that the collating station carrying this signature reaches caliper
42, delay 670 produces an output pulse coupled to write counter
672. This actuates write gate line 1 and hence memory Box 1. The
thickness of the signature, now being read by caliper 42, produces
an analog signal which is converted by an analog-to-digital (A/D)
converter 684 into a corresponding digital signal which is now
gated or written into memory Box 1.
Similarly, as the signature from the second feeder reaches caliper
42, delay 670 produces an output pulse which steps write counter
672 to output line 2, actuating memory box 2 and causing the
thickness signal to be stored therein. As each further signature is
selectively actuated, its thickness is ultimately recorded in
corresponding ones of the storage memories 680.
After number generator 656 steps to its last output, it is disabled
until the set-up switch 650 is again actuated, for the next trial
run. The last output of write counter 672 may be used to deactuate
the set-up switch 650, or to otherwise indicate that a production
run may begin.
To begin a production run, a run switch 700 is actuated, thereby
actuating read gates 702 which individually coupled each output
line from the selector 84 of camera 2 to a corresponding read gate
input of the memory 680. At the same time, AND gate 662 couples
camera 1 to its associated decoder 80. As each mailing label passes
camera 1, the code thereon is decoded and causes selector 84 to
actuate the appropriate delay units 88. For example, this may cause
delay 1 and delay N to be actuated in response to a particular code
on a mailing label. This mailing label reaches camera 2 at the time
that the collating station carrying the signatures from Box 1 and
Box N reaches caliper 42.
The mailing label is read by camera 2 and causes selector 84 to
actuate the output lines associated with Box 1 and Box N. The
output lines pass signals through gates 702 to the read out gate
inputs of memory box 1 and memory box N, causing the thickness
signals stored therein to be read out and passed to a summer 710.
The summer 710 adds together all of the digital inputs thereto,
producing a sum total which is converted by a digital-to-analog
(D/A) converter 712 into a corresponding analog signal coupled to a
comparator 714.
At this time, comparator 714 is receiving an analog input from the
caliper 42 which is monitoring the collating station carrying the
signatures from Box 1 and Box N. If the pair of analog inputs are
equal, the comparator 714 does not produce any output. However, if
the analog inputs are unequal, an output is produced, and when this
output exceeds an absolute value difference as determined by a
threshold circuit 716, an error pulse is generated. An AND gate 718
is responsive when proximity switch 130 is actuated and the error
pulse is generated to gate an error signal to delay C unit 136.
This causes the book of signatures to be diverted at station 48, as
previously described with reference to FIG. 1.
If conditions which affect the thickness of signatures change
substantially, a new trail run can be initiated in order to record
in the memory 680 new thicknesses of signatures for use in
controlling the production run.
* * * * *