Sheet stacking apparatus having adjustable length conveyor section

Abstract

A sheet stacking system for transporting sheets and depositing them in a stack includes a layboy, a transport conveyor downstream of the layboy, and a main conveyor downstream of the transport conveyor, the main conveyor having a frame and being supported by a conveyor support, a discharge end of the main conveyor being movable between a lowered position and a raised position relative to the conveyor support. The main conveyor intake end is configured to move from a first position when the main conveyor discharge end is in the lowered position to a second position when the main conveyor discharge end is in the raised position, and also a variable length conveyor between the transport conveyor and the main conveyor, the variable length conveyor having a discharge end connected to and movable with the main conveyor intake end and movable relative to the transport conveyor discharge end.

Claims

1. A sheet stacking system for transporting sheets in a downstream direction and depositing the sheets in a stack, the system comprising: a conveyor support, a layboy comprising opposed upper and lower conveyors configured to receive the sheets from a rotary die cut machine at a layboy intake end and output the sheets from a layboy discharge end, a transport conveyor downstream of the layboy and configured to receive the sheets from the layboy at a transport conveyor intake end and output the sheets from a transport conveyor discharge end, a main conveyor downstream of the transport conveyor, the main conveyor comprising a frame and being supported by the conveyor support and having a main conveyor intake end and a main conveyor discharge end, the main conveyor discharge end being movable between a lowered position and a raised position relative to the conveyor support, and the main conveyor intake end being configured to move from a first position relative to the conveyor support when the main conveyor discharge end is in the lowered position to second position relative to the conveyor support when the main conveyor discharge end is in the raised position, and a variable length conveyor between the transport conveyor discharge end and the main conveyor intake end, the variable length conveyor having a variable length conveyor intake end and a variable length conveyor discharge end connected to and movable with the main conveyor intake end and movable relative to the transport conveyor discharge end.

2. The sheet stacking system according to claim 1, wherein the variable length conveyor intake end is fixed relative to the conveyor support.

3. The sheet stacking system according to claim 2, wherein the transport conveyor discharge end is fixed relative to the conveyor support.

4. The sheet stacking system according to claim 1, wherein the transport conveyor discharge end is fixed relative to the conveyor support.

5. The sheet stacking system according to claim 1, wherein the main conveyor intake end is connected to the conveyor support by a strut having a first end and a second end, the first end of the strut being pivotably connected to the frame of the main conveyor and the second end of the strut being pivotably connected to the conveyor support.

6. The sheet stacking system according to claim 5, wherein the variable length conveyor includes a first wheel supported by the frame of the main conveyor, a second wheel fixed relative to the discharge end of the transport conveyor, a third wheel mounted at the end of an arm pivotably connected to the frame or to the strut and at least one belt mounted on the first, second and third wheels.

7. The sheet stacking system according to claim 6, including a plate having a curved wall fixedly mounted relative to the conveyor support, wherein the arm includes a roller configured to roll along the curved wall in response to the intake end of the main conveyor moving from the first position to the second position.

8. The sheet stacking system according to claim 7, wherein the curved wall comprise a side of a curved slot.

9. The sheet stacking system according to claim 6, wherein the main conveyor includes at least two main conveyor belts supported by at least one intake end wheel, and wherein the at least one belt of the variable length conveyor extends between the at least two main conveyor belts.

10. The sheet stacking system according to claim 6, wherein the first wheel of the variable length conveyor is mounted a shaft supporting drive wheels of the main conveyor.

11. A sheet stacking system for transporting sheets in a downstream direction and depositing the sheets in a stack, the system comprising: a conveyor support, a transport conveyor having a transport conveyor intake end and a transport conveyor discharge end, the transport conveyor discharge end being fixed relative to the conveyor support, a main conveyor downstream of the transport conveyor, the main conveyor comprising a frame and being supported by the conveyor support and having a main conveyor intake end and a main conveyor discharge end, the main conveyor discharge end being movable between a lowered position and a raised position, and the main conveyor intake end being configured to move from a first position relative to the conveyor support when the main conveyor discharge end is in the lowered position to second position relative to the conveyor support when the main conveyor discharge end is in the raised position, and a variable length conveyor between the transport conveyor discharge end and the main conveyor intake end, the variable length conveyor having a variable length conveyor intake end and a variable length conveyor discharge end connected to and movable with the main conveyor intake end and movable relative to the transport conveyor discharge end, wherein the variable length conveyor includes a first wheel supported by the frame of the main conveyor, a second wheel fixed relative to the discharge end of the transport conveyor, a third wheel mounted at the end of an arm pivotably connected to the frame of the main conveyor and at least one belt mounted on the first, second and third wheels.

12. The sheet stacking system according to claim 11, wherein the main conveyor intake end is connected to the conveyor support by a strut having a first end and a second end, the first end of the strut being pivotably connected to the frame of the main conveyor and the second end of the strut being pivotably connected to the conveyor support.

13. The sheet stacking system according to claim 12, including a plate having a curved wall fixedly mounted relative to the conveyor support, wherein the arm includes a roller configured to roll along the curved wall in response to the intake end of the main conveyor moving from the first position to the second position.

14. The sheet stacking system according to claim 12, including a plate having a curved slot fixedly mounted relative to the conveyor support, wherein the arm includes a roller configured to roll along the curved slot in response to the intake end of the main conveyor moving from the first position to the second position.

15. The sheet stacking system according to claim 11 including a layboy comprising opposed upper and lower conveyors configured to receive the sheets from a rotary die cut machine at a layboy intake end and output the sheets to the transport conveyor intake end.

16. The sheet stacking system according to claim 11, wherein the main conveyor includes at least two main conveyor belts supported by an intake end shaft, and wherein the at least one belt of the variable length conveyor is configured to be driven by the intake end shaft.

17. A sheet stacking system for transporting sheets in a downstream direction and depositing the sheets in a stack, the system comprising: a conveyor support, a layboy comprising opposed upper and lower conveyors configured to receive the sheets from a rotary die cut machine at a layboy intake end and output the sheets from a layboy discharge end, a transport conveyor downstream of the layboy and configured to receive the sheets from the layboy at a transport conveyor intake end and output the sheets from a transport conveyor discharge end, a main conveyor downstream of the transport conveyor, the main conveyor comprising a frame and being supported by the conveyor support and having a main conveyor intake end and a main conveyor discharge end, the main conveyor discharge end being movable between a lowered position and a raised position, and the main conveyor intake end being configured to move from a first position relative to the conveyor support when the main conveyor discharge end is in the lowered position to second position relative to the conveyor support when the main conveyor discharge end is in the raised position, and variable gap spanning means between the transport conveyor discharge end and the main conveyor intake end for carrying sheets from the transport conveyor to the main conveyor as a distance between the discharge end of the transport conveyor and the intake end of the main conveyor changes.

18. The sheet stacking system according to claim 17, wherein the variable gap spanning means includes a first wheel supported by the frame of the main conveyor, a second wheel fixed relative to the transport conveyor discharge end, a third wheel mounted at the end of an arm pivotably connected to the frame of the main conveyor and at least one belt mounted on the first, second and third wheels.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a conventional sheet stacking apparatus including a layboy, a transfer conveyor and a main conveyor.

(2) FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the sheet stacking apparatus of FIG. 1 in a lowered position.

(3) FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the sheet stacking apparatus of FIG. 1 in a raised position.

(4) FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a sheet stacking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure with a main conveyor in a horizontal or lowered position, a transfer conveyor and a gap conveyor between the main conveyor and the transfer conveyor.

(5) FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the sheet stacking apparatus of FIG. 4 with the main conveyor in a slightly raised position.

(6) FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a rotary die cut machine, a layboy, and a portion of the main conveyor of FIG. 4.

(7) FIG. 7 is a detail view of the gap conveyor shown in FIG. 4 when the main conveyor is in the position of FIG. 5.

(8) FIG. 8 is a detail view of the gap conveyor shown in FIG. 4 when the main conveyor is in a fully raised position.

(9) FIG. 9 is a front elevational view of the gap conveyor and the main conveyor.

(10) FIG. 10 is a first perspective view of the gap conveyor of FIG. 4.

(11) FIG. 11 is a second perspective view of the gap conveyor of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(12) Referring now to the drawings, wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating embodiments of the disclosure only and not for the purpose of limiting same, FIGS. 4 and 6 together show a stacking system 150 mounted next to the output of a rotary die cut machine 103. The stacking system includes a layboy 152, a transfer conveyor 154 downstream of the rotary die cut machine 103, and a main conveyor 156 downstream of the transfer conveyor 154. A variable length conveyor 158 is located between the transfer conveyor 154 and the main conveyor 156. At least the main conveyor 156 is attached to a conveyor support 160 that is in turn configured to rest on or be mounted on a floor or other surface. In the present embodiment, the transfer conveyor 154 and the layboy 152 are also be mounted on the conveyor support 160 (formed by joining individual support elements together) but each individual conveyor sections could alternately be mounted on separate supports that are located immediately adjacent to one another.

(13) As used herein, the term downstream refers to the direction from the rotary die cut machine 103 to the main conveyor 156, the direction that sheets of material will travel along the stacking system 150 when it operates.

(14) The layboy 152 is conventional and has an intake end 162 and a discharge end 164. It will not be described in detail herein.

(15) The transfer conveyor 154 has an intake end 166 and a discharge end 168, and the discharge end 168 of the transfer conveyor 154 is fixed relative to the conveyor support 160. The transfer conveyor includes a plurality of belts 170, which form a support surface for carrying the sheets from the layboy 152 toward the main conveyor 156.

(16) The main conveyor 156 has a frame 172, an intake end 174 and a discharge end 176 from which sheets of material (not illustrated) fall to form a stack (not illustrated). The main conveyor 156 also includes a driveshaft 178 (FIGS. 9 and 10) near the intake end 174 and a drive 180 configured to rotate the driveshaft 178 to cause the top surfaces of a plurality of belts 182 of the main conveyor 156 to move in the downstream direction. The belts 182 are mounted on support wheels 184 mounted on the driveshaft 178.

(17) The intake end 174 of the main conveyor 156 is connected to the conveyor support 160 by a plurality of struts 186, each of which has an upper end pivotably connected to the main conveyor frame 172 and a lower end pivotably connected to the conveyor support 160. The pivotable connection between the main conveyor frame 172 and the struts 186 and between the struts 186 and the conveyor support 160 enables the intake end 174 of the main conveyor 156 to move between a first position, illustrated in FIG. 4, when the discharge end 176 of the main conveyor 156 is in a lowered position, and a second position, illustrated in FIG. 5, when the main conveyor 156 is somewhat raised, and a third position (not illustrated) when the main conveyor 156 is in a fully raised position. In other words, the intake end 174 of the main conveyor 156 moves from the right to the left in FIG. 4 as the main conveyor discharge end 176 rises.

(18) Because the discharge end 168 of the transfer conveyor 154 is fixed, it cannot move with the main conveyor intake end 174 as would the conventional transfer conveyor 104 illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Therefore, if the variable length conveyor 158, described in more detail below, were not present, the distance between the discharge end 168 of the transfer conveyor 154 and the intake end 174 of the main conveyor 156 would grow when the discharge end 176 of the main conveyor 156 rises. This would adversely affect the movement of sheets from the transfer conveyor 154 to the main conveyor 156 and could lead to jams.

(19) Beneficially, the variable length conveyor 158 spans the gap between the transfer conveyor 154 and the main conveyor 156 to provide a support surface for sheets of material moving downstream which support surface is present regardless of the position of the discharge end 176 of the main conveyor 156.

(20) The variable length conveyor 158 comprises a plurality of drive wheels 190 mounted on the drive shaft 178 of the main conveyor 156 between the support wheels 184 which drive wheels 190 support a plurality of belts 192. (Alternately, the drive wheels 190 could be mounted on a separate shaft parallel to the drive shaft 178 which shaft is mechanically connected to the drive shaft 178 and/or to the drive 180). The drive wheels 190 are fixed against rotation relative to the drive shaft 178 so that the drive wheels 190 rotate with the driveshaft 178 to drive the plurality of belts 192. The plurality of belts 192 of the variable length conveyor 154 are caused to rotate by the drive 180 and the rotating drive shaft 178 so that the tops of the belts 192 mounted on the drive wheels 190 carry sheets toward the main conveyor 156.

(21) The variable length conveyor 158 also includes an idler shaft 194 at the discharge end 168 of the transfer conveyor 154 which supports a plurality of idler wheels 196. The idler shaft 194 may be directly supported by a portion of a frame of the transfer conveyor 154, or, as illustrated, mounted to the conveyor support 160 or mounted in some other manner that holds the idler shaft 194 at a fixed location relative to the transfer conveyor discharge end 168. The idler shaft 194 may be fixedly mounted to side supports with the idler wheels 196 mounted for rotation relative to the idler shaft 194, or, alternately, the idler wheels 196 may be fixed to the idler shaft 194, and the idler shaft 194 itself may be journaled to side supports so that the idler shaft 194 and the idler wheels 196 rotate as a unit. The plurality of belts 192 extend from the drive wheels 190 of the driveshaft 178 to the idler wheels 196.

(22) A transverse portion of the conveyor support 160 runs perpendicular to the downstream direction and beneath the gap between the transfer conveyor discharge end 168 and the main conveyor intake end 174, and a plurality of guide plates 198 are mounted thereto. Each of the guide plates 198 projects vertically and lies in a plane parallel to the downstream direction. Each of the guide plates 198 includes a curved slot 200 having a first curved guide wall 202 (first cam surface) and a second curved guide wall 203 (second cam surface) that extend upwardly and in the downstream direction.

(23) As illustrated, for example in FIGS. 10 and 11, the variable length conveyor 158 further comprises a plurality of guide arms 204 each having a first end 206 pivotably mounted at or to the one of the struts 186 and a second end 208 near the curved slot 200 of one of the guide plates 198. The second end 208 of each guide arm 204 supports a cam roller 210. A shaft 211 (see FIG. 10) connecting the second ends 208 of the guide arms 204 supports a plurality of idler wheels 212. The cam roller 210 is mounted in the curved slot 200 between the first curved guide wall 202 and the second curved guide wall 203. The idler wheels 212 support the plurality of belts 192 of the variable length conveyor 158. The plurality of belts 192 thus extend around the triangles formed by each set of one drive wheel 190, one idler wheel 196 at the discharge end 168 of the transfer conveyor 158 and one idler wheel 212 at the second end of one of the guide arms 204.

(24) The shape of the curved slots 200 is selected to ensure that the cam rollers 210 maintain a desired tension on the plurality of belts 192. There is very little clearance between the cam rollers 210 and the first and second curved guide walls 202, 203 of the curved slots 200. The relationship between the cam rollers 210 and the drive wheels 190 is therefore substantially fixed for any given spacing between the drive wheels 190 and the idler wheels 196. The interaction between the cam wheels 210 and the curved slots 200 thus maintains the desired tension on the plurality of belts 192 for all locations of the cam wheels 210 along the curved slots 200.

(25) In operation, the rotary die cut machine 103 outputs cut sheets of material that are received into the intake end 162 of the layboy 152. The sheets exit the discharge end 164 of the layboy 152 and are received onto the intake end 166 of the transfer conveyor 154 and travel along the belts 170 of the transfer conveyor 154 to the transfer conveyor discharge end 168. After leaving the transfer conveyor 154, the sheets move onto the belts 192 of the variable length conveyor 158 and travel across the variable length conveyor 158 to the intake end of the main conveyor 174. The sheets than travel along the main conveyor 156 in a conventional manner and drop off the discharge end 176 of the main conveyor to form a stack.

(26) This operation continues, and the main conveyor 156 remains in the generally horizontal position illustrated in FIG. 4 until the stack grows to a predetermined height. At that time, under the control of a conventional stacking apparatus controller (not illustrated), the discharge end 176 of the main conveyor 156 is raised gradually and reaches an intermediate position illustrated in FIG. 5.

(27) FIG. 7 is a detail view of the variable length conveyor 158 when the main conveyor 156 is in the position shown in FIG. 5. As will be appreciated from this figure, the generally vertical upward movement of the main conveyor discharge end 176 pulls the main conveyor intake end 174 toward the left in the figure, which movement is accommodated by the pivotal connections between the main conveyor frame 172 and the struts 186 and between the struts 186 and the conveyor support 160. This movement of the main conveyor intake end 174 pulls the drive shaft 178, which is attached to the frame 172 of the main conveyor 156, away from the idler shaft 194 and causes the top surface of the variable length conveyor 158 to lengthen. The tilting of the struts 186 also pulls the first end of the guide arm 204 away from the curved slot 200, which in turn causes the cam roller 210 roll along the first curved guide wall 202 of the curved slot 200. Because the top surface of the variable length conveyor 158 lengthens as the main conveyor discharge end 176 moves upwardly, sheets traversing the stacking apparatus 150 from the transfer conveyor 154 to the main conveyor 156 continue to travel smoothly without encountering gaps which could adversely affect sheet flow.

(28) FIG. 8 shows the variable length conveyor 158 when the discharge end 176 of the main conveyor 156 is fully raised. In this Figure, the struts 186 have tipped further to the left, pulling the first ends 206 of the guide arms 204 to the left and causing the cam rollers 210 to roll along the curved guide walls 202 to a location at or near the top of the curved slots 200, thus bringing the idler rollers 212 on the second ends 208 of the guide arms 204 closer to the idler wheels 196 on the idler shaft 194 and to the discharge end 168 of the transfer conveyor 154.

(29) When the stacking system 150 finishes forming a given stack, the main conveyor discharge end 176 is returned to the position shown in FIG. 4. The cam rollers 210 travel back between the first curved guide walls 202 and the second curved guide walls 203 toward the bottom of the curved slots 200. Because the second curved guide walls 203 also control the positions of the cam rollers 210 as the intake end 174 of the main conveyor 156 moves closer to the discharge end 168 of the transfer conveyor 154, they force the bottom portions of the plurality of belts 192 downward and maintain tension on the plurality of belts 192 during the downward movement of the main conveyor 156.

(30) The presence of the variable length conveyor 158 thus allows a gap between a transfer conveyor 154 and a main conveyor 156 to be filled when a transfer conveyor 154 having a fixed position discharge end 168 (fixed against movement in the sheet travel direction) is used.

(31) The present invention has been described herein in terms of a preferred embodiment. However, modifications and additions to this disclosure will become apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the foregoing description. It is intended that all modifications and additions form a part of the present invention to the extent they fall within the scope of the several claims appended hereto.