Abstract: Methods and systems employing belt conveyors adapted to feed signatures to a collating conveyor and a control system that regulates the operation of the belt conveyors are provided. The control system is adapted to regulate the speed of the belt conveyors in response to the speed of the collating conveyor, for example, proportional to the speed of the collating conveyor, to minimize or eliminate signature misfeeds. The control system may implement a mathematical algorithm that defines a relationship between the collating conveyor speed and the belt conveyor speeds. The systems and methods may include ancillary feeding devices such as joggers and speeder wheels to optimize the transfer of signatures.

Abstract: Systems and methods for handling sheet material, for example, signatures or inserts, are provided. Individual systems and methods for loading and jogging stacks of sheet material are combined with systems and methods for transferring sheet material whereby the mishandling or misfeeding of sheet material is minimized or reduced. The loading and jogging aspects are characterized by pivotally mounted receptacles or bins that facilitate introducing sheet material to a conveyor. The transferring aspects include automated transfer devices adapted to grip and position stacks of sheet material, for example, into a hopper feeding a disk feeder. These automated systems and their combination minimizes or prevents the mishandling of sheet material whereby the processing of sheet material is enhanced compared to conventional systems and methods.

Abstract: Methods and systems employing belt conveyors adapted to feed signatures to a collating conveyor and a control system that regulates the operation of the belt conveyors are provided. The control system is adapted to regulate the speed of the belt conveyors in response to the speed of the collating conveyor, for example, proportional to the speed of the collating conveyor, to minimize or eliminate signature misfeeds. The control system may implement a mathematical algorithm that defines a relationship between the collating conveyor speed and the belt conveyor speeds. The systems and methods may include ancillary feeding devices such as joggers and speeder wheels to optimize the transfer of signatures.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for regulating the operation of a chain driven conveyor to minimize the effect of chain stretch. The system includes a chain conveyor having a chain and a plurality of indexing pins mounted to the chain, a signature feeder, at least one sensor adapted to detect variations in chain length; and a controller adapted to control the speed of rotation of the signature feeder in response to the variations in chain length to minimize variations in the spacing of the signatures and the indexing pins. The signature feeder may include a disk separator and a drum conveyor or a crank-type conveyor, among others. Methods of operating the system are also disclosed.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for preventing the misalignment of sheet material in hoppers adapted to feed sheet material to disk separators are disclosed. In one aspect, a floating backguide is provided. The floating backguide moves independently of the hopper with which the backguide is associated. The floating backguide may be pivotally mounted at a first end and free to deflect to a limited degree at a second end. In one aspect, the deflection of the second end is limited in the horizontal direction by two stationary bars and in the vertical direction by two stops. The vertical deflection of the second end of the backguide may also be limited by a resilient material, for example, a spring or an elastomer. A method for feeding sheet material to a disk separator using a floating backguide is also provided.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for preventing the misalignment of sheet material in hoppers adapted to feed sheet material to disk separators are disclosed. In one aspect, a floating backguide is provided. The floating backguide moves independently of the hopper with which the backguide is associated. The floating backguide may be pivotally mounted at a first end and free to deflect to a limited degree at a second end. In one aspect, the deflection of the second end is limited in the horizontal direction by two stationary bars and in the vertical direction by two stops. The vertical deflection of the second end of the backguide may also be limited by a resilient material, for example, a spring or an elastomer. A method for feeding sheet material to a disk separator using a floating backguide is also provided.

Abstract: A feeding and conveying system for feeding and conveying sheet material for printing, collating, or binding the sheet material, among other processes. The feeding and conveying system includes at least one feeder having a magazine containing a plurality of articles of sheet material, for example, signatures, a rotatable disk for separating the sheet material from the magazine, and a feed drum for transferring the sheet material from the magazine to a conveyor. The rotatable disk, having at least one separating blade, is reciprocally rotated to separate the sheet material from the magazine. The separation of the sheet material from the magazine may be aided by applying a source of vacuum to the sheet material, for example, by means of suckers. The feed drum may include one or more grasping devices for grasping and retaining the sheet material, for example, one or more grippers. The rotation of the separator disk may be controlled by a programmable controller.

Abstract: Apparatus and method for counting the number of inserts pulled each cycle from each hopper of an inserting machine. The caliper is a precision mechanism for accurately counting single, double, triple, quadruple and even quintuple fed inserts as well as misses. The caliper system compensates for a wide range of variables and countered in conventional newspaper inserting machines operating at 400 cycles per minute. The set-up of the caliper system is highly simplified due to the system software which, in addition to while proving a learn zero and learn insert mode, further recognizes operational variables which occur during operations such as fluctuation of paper basis weight and ink build up on the caliper wheel. The system provides self-checks to verify operational accuracy.

Abstract: A feeder for feeding material along a feed path. The feeder includes a conveyer, a sensor and a control system. The conveyer operates at a normal cyclical rate to transfer the material along the feed path. The sensor mounts on the feeder and detects the material being fed. The sensor detects and signals fault when the material is fed in an undesirable manner. The control system couples with the conveyer and with the sensor and responds to the sensor to slow the conveyer to a reduced cyclical rate when the sensor signals fault. The reduced cyclical rate is less than the normal cyclical rate to enable the feeder to self-correct and thereby eliminate the fault. When the conveyer operates at the reduced cyclical rate and the feeder has self-corrected, the sensor ceases to detect fault and the control system speeds the conveyer back to the normal cyclical rate.

Abstract: A hopper loader having at least a horizontal infeed conveyor and one or a plurality of side guides each adjustable by a single operating handle to facilitate accurate horizontal product alignment over the entire length of the hopper loader. The single operating handle drives one or a plurality of linkage assemblies which operate in unison to move a guide plate slidably engaged by side edges of printed products as they move along the horizontal conveyor sections. In applications where the hopper loader incorporates conveyor sections having different angular orientations, rods and rod sections for each such conveyor section are coupled to one another by a universal joint to convey movement to each linkage under control of the single operating handle.

Abstract: A jogger having a jogger plate is floatingly supported by a four-bar linkage swingably mounted upon a support post. The four-bar linkage is a parallelogram-type linkage which enables the jogger plate to maintain its orientation in space regardless of any swinging movement experienced by the parallelogram linkage. An adjustable weight is provided to control the force exerted upon a signature stack during operation. The jogger plate is adjustable to provide proper positioning of the plate relative to the stack being jogged into alignment. Sensors control the operation of the jogger assembly responsive to the presence of a stack to be jogged and responsive to the movement of the jogging assembly to a given position displaced from the nominal operating position.

Abstract: For use with a hopper loader a quick-release feed rack having two swingable sections coupled through a center pivot enables removal of one section for quick and simple attachment to a loader.

Abstract: Conveyors for selectively conveying product delivered thereto either along a pair of side-by-side delivery lanes or a single delivery lane adjacent the pair of side-by-side lanes, the conveyors conveying product to output devices, such as stackers. One of the conveyors being laterally movable between a position aligned to receive product from one of the pair of lanes to a position displaced therefrom and displaced from the other one of the conveyors. The other one of the conveyors having an upstream section swingable about a pivot point to respectively align the upstream end of the swingable section either with the remaining one of the side-by-side lanes or with the single lane. Releasable clamping assemblies are released to provide movement of the conveyors and are clamped to retain the conveyors in the desired position. A drive coupler between one of the conveyors and the other of the conveyors may be selectively operated to either couple or decouple drive from the first-mentioned conveyor.

Abstract: A hopper loader interfaced with a variety of hoppers/feeders having a horizontal infeed conveyor with a hand-feed belt section near the input end movable between an operative position for hand-feed operation and a lowered position to facilitate automatic feeding. A positioning actuator is coupled between the hopper loader and the hopper to provide for automatic fine-tuning adjustment of the jogger position as well as for machine make-ready to accommodate changing product size. A single controller is provided for simultaneously positioning a plurality of loaders. The controller has adjustable stops for accommodating frequently used product formats. Automatic air delay shut-off saves energy by shutting off the air blast system a predetermiend delay after the loader is halted. further automatic means saves energy and prevents "over jogging" and damage to the product by turning off the jogger a predetermined delay interval after the loader stops.

Abstract: The system comprises at least one conveyor for carrying the bundles with equipment for checking bundle integrity and verifying correct addresses. Equipment can be included to remove unacceptable bundles and to divert each bundle to the predetermined conveyor and align the bundles properly. The bundles are rotated and held in position until a uniformed, and/or predetermined dimension log is achieved and then moved into position for strapping the log, identifying it and attaching the label. Conveyors are used to place each log in position to be palletized in conjunction with other logs. The logs can be rotated to create cross stacking of the logs and equipment can be used to raise or lower each layer of the logs. When the complete pallet is created an address and information label is prepared and attached.