Patents by Inventor Andreas Fricke

Andreas Fricke has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5984296
    Abstract: Device for cyclically lifting and lowering at least one lifting sucker in a feeder of a sheet-processing machine, wherein a sheet lifted by the lifting sucker is transferred to at least one pull sucker for further transport, the lifting sucker being operatively connected by a lifting-sucker transmission to a cyclically controlled drive, the lifting-sucker transmission including a coupler having a joint steplessly bringable onto various cam paths in accordance with a selective suction position of the lifting sucker, all of the cam paths having a common intersecting point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 1996
    Date of Patent: November 16, 1999
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Andreas Fricke, Jurgen Zeltner
  • Patent number: 5895037
    Abstract: A drive transmission for a pull or forwarding sucker located in a suction head of a sheet feeder for translatorily driving a sucker-carrying support movable in a guide provided on a suction-head housing, the sucker-carrying support being connected articulatingly to at least one coupler swivelable about an axis extending transversely to the translatory motion of the sucker-carrying support, includes a first drive cam for moving the coupler and for effecting a forwarding motion, and a second drive cam for a roller lever mounted in the suction-head housing and being swivelably connected to the coupler, the second drive cam having a profile for leveling the translatory motion of the sucker-carrying support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 20, 1999
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
    Inventors: Martin Baureis, Andreas Fricke, Jurgen Zeltner
  • Patent number: 5761998
    Abstract: A device for aligning sheets on a feeding table of a sheetfed printing press having at least one swivelably mounted top lay and at least one swivelably mounted front lay, and a control device for cyclically moving the at least one front lay and the at least one top lay includes a control device for the at least one top lay operative independently of the control device for cyclically moving the at least one front lay and the at least one top lay, the at least one top lay being disposed so as to be vertically movable and being constructed wider than the at least one front lay, and the at least one front lay being laterally encompassed by the at least one top lay.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 9, 1998
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
    Inventors: Andreas Fricke, Heiner Luxem
  • Patent number: 5749572
    Abstract: Gripper control for a cyclically rockingly driven pregripper for single-sheet feeding in a sheet-fed printing press, the pregripper being disposed at a free end of a rocker lever, which is swivelable about a rocker shaft fixed to a frame of the printing press, and having at least one sheet gripper forcibly movable by cams about an articulated shaft disposed parallel to the rocker shaft, for closing and opening the sheet gripper when the sheet is taken over and transferred, respectively, one of the cams being revolvable a single revolution, and another of the cams being disposed on a locally stationarily swivelable roller lever carrying a cam roller engaging with the one cam, the other cam being swivelable cyclically in the position thereof, the position of the cams determining the closing time and opening time of the gripper, includes an indexing mechanism for fixing the other cam on the locally stationarily swivelable roller lever, the other cam having a first gripper-closing cam region and a first gripper-o
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 12, 1998
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
    Inventors: Andreas Fricke, Heiner Luxem, Lothar Stadler
  • Patent number: 5613671
    Abstract: Device for skewed sheet correction in a feeder of a sheet-fed printing press having at least one sucker which is adjustable in height and is disposed on a driven movable sucker carrier for horizontally transporting and simultaneously aligning a sheet lifted from a sheet pile, a rocker arm mounted in a frame of the printing press, the sucker carrier being articulatingly connected to the rocker arm so as to be movable in a feeding direction of the sheet and swingably driven, and a cam guide which is adjustable in height, the sucker carrier being braced against the cam guide, includes another rocker arm adjustably supported in the press frame, the sucker carrier being spaced apart from the first-mentioned rocker arm in a direction transverse to the sheet feeding direction and being articulatingly connected to the other rocker arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 1995
    Date of Patent: March 25, 1997
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
    Inventors: Andreas Fricke, Jochen Renner, Norbert Thunker
  • Patent number: 5596929
    Abstract: Device for register correction and for compensating for distorted sheets in a pregripper of a feeder for a sheet-fed rotary printing press has a frame-fixed brace disposed on a pregripper shaft and located approximately centrally between end supports on a gripper bar, the gripper bar being supported rigid against torsion at opposite ends thereof on the pregripper shaft and being capable of executing swivelling movements in a sheet-feeding direction and in a direction opposite thereto, the frame-fixed brace serving for elastically bending the gripper bar in the sheet-feeding direction before the sheet is gripped by sheet grippers which are disposed side by side on the gripper bar and are swivellable about an axis of the pregripper shaft, the brace including a cam roller by which it runs onto an adjustable cam having a frame-fixed support, and an articulated joint with an eccentric element having a lever arm connected thereto for carrying the cam roller spaced from a center of the eccentric element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 1995
    Date of Patent: January 28, 1997
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
    Inventors: Andreas Fricke, Heiner Luxem
  • Patent number: 5440983
    Abstract: Gripper control for a cyclically swingably driven pregripper for transporting single sheets in a sheet-fed printing press, the pregripper having at least one sheet gripper mounted on a free end of a swivel lever motorizingly pivotable about a frame-fixed swivel shaft, the gripper control including cams for forcibly moving the sheet gripper about an articulated shaft oriented parallel to the swivel shaft so as to close and open the sheet gripper upon sheet acceptance and sheet transfer, one of the cams being revolvable in a single revolution for cyclically shifting the other of the cams in the position thereof, the other of the cams being secured to a roller lever supported pivotally at a fixed location and having a cam roller resting on the one cam, relative positions of the cams being adjustable for determining the instants of closing and opening of the gripper, the other of the cams being a cam segment having two successive circular cam regions with radii of curvature of different length and a common center
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 1994
    Date of Patent: August 15, 1995
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen
    Inventors: Stefan Dopke, Andreas Fricke
  • Patent number: 5398607
    Abstract: A pregripper configuration in a sheet-fed rotary printing press feeds single sheets to a rotating cylinder. A cam drive includes a main cam and a roller lever which pivots about a frame-fixed shaft. A lever mechanism, which is articulated to the roller lever and a pregripper pivot arm, transmits the motion of the cam-following roller lever to the pivot arm. The pivot arm is also pivoted about a frame-fixed shaft. In order to compensate for play in the lever mechanism, a pretensioned spring is disposed between an attachment point on the roller lever and an attachment point on the pivot arm. In one embodiment, the pretensioned spring extends approximately parallel to a rigid link connected in articulated fashion between the roller lever and the pivot arm. In another embodiment, the spring is attached to a compensating cam drive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 1993
    Date of Patent: March 21, 1995
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
    Inventors: Andreas Fricke, Burkhard Maass, Jurgen Rautert
  • Patent number: 5390601
    Abstract: Gripper control for sheet grippers on a sheet-guiding cylinder or the like in a printing press, wherein a stationary pressure generator for a pressure medium is connected by means of a coupling, through the intermediary of a motor-actuated servo-valve, to a sheet-gripper actuating system disposed on the cylinder or the like and, through a control system, being acted upon by the pressure medium in time with an operating cycle of the printing press, includes a piston-cylinder unit forming part of the actuating system, a displacement-measuring system connected to the piston-cylinder unit, respective elements for pivotally connecting the piston-cylinder unit, at one end thereof, to the sheet-guiding cylinder or the like and, at the other end thereof, to a lever connected to the sheet gripper, the control system including a programmable control computer connected by measuring lines to the displacement-measuring system and, via a position-control loop, being capable of controlling a motor-actuated positioning of th
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 1993
    Date of Patent: February 21, 1995
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
    Inventors: Andreas Fricke, Norbert Thunker
  • Patent number: 5377588
    Abstract: Delivery for a sheet-fed printing press includes a device for conveying sheets supplied from the printing press in a given conveying direction to a location at which the sheets fall consecutively onto a pile of the sheets, a swivelingly mounted stop shaft carrying retractable stops for leading edges of the sheets in an upper region of the sheet pile, a swivelingly mounted catching-arm shaft disposed adjacent to the stop shaft and carrying a plurality of lever arms, respective catching arms articulatedly connected to the lever arms, the catching arms being insertable in a direction opposite to the conveying direction between the falling sheets for catching and auxiliarly supporting the sheets, a drive member swivelable about a rotary axis, and connecting members for connecting both the retractable stops and the catching arms in common to the drive member for performing an enforced sequence of movements of the catching arms and the stops wherein the stops are retracted following an insertion of the catching arm
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 1993
    Date of Patent: January 3, 1995
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
    Inventors: Andreas Fricke, Udo Ganter
  • Patent number: 5343806
    Abstract: Swivelling pre-gripper of a sheet-fed printing press having a sheet feeding table includes a swivel arm; a gripper carried by the swivel arm; a mutually cooperating roller lever and cam mechanism for, respectively, opening and closing the gripper; a device for cyclically swivelling the swivel arm of the pre-gripper to and away from the sheet feeding table; a device for cyclically opening and closing the gripper; a device for setting an instant of opening of the gripper for releasing a sheet gripped by the gripper in a closed condition thereof to a downline conveying device for accepting and transporting the released sheet; a device for setting, in a manner decoupled from the setting of the instant of opening, an instant of closing the gripper for gripping the sheet fed from the feeding table to the pre-gripper; one of the devices for setting the instant of opening and for setting the instant of closing of the gripper being disposed on the roller lever; and the other of the devices for setting the instant of c
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 1993
    Date of Patent: September 6, 1994
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
    Inventors: Andreas Fricke, Siegfried Kurtzer
  • Patent number: 4913081
    Abstract: A device for aspirating coating material, such as paints, from the applicator gap between two applicator rollers provides two suction tubes, which are disposed horizontally displaceably and whose outlet ends communicate with an apparatus for generating a suction pressure as well as with in apparatus for collecting the aspirated coating material. Particularly when a photoresist is applied to a board-like substrate in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, accumulations of the coating material in the region of the edge of the substrate passing through the apparatus can be avoided without mechanically straining the applicator rollers. By means of the suction pressure apparatus, the quantity of coating material accumulating as the boards to be coated pass through the apparatus can be aspirated continuously and returned via a collection tank to the supply of coating material to be used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 1989
    Date of Patent: April 3, 1990
    Assignee: Robert Burkle GmbH & Co.
    Inventor: Andreas Frick