Abstract: A bag machine and method includes a continuously driven rotary drum for making articles such as bags from a folded web of thermosealing material. A bag stripping and accumulating mechanism is driven in timed relation with the bag making drum for removing each bag from the drum and accumulating a predetermined plurality of bags in groups before depositing the groups of bags at a location such as on the pins of a wicket conveyor when the pins are stationary, or in shingled stacks on a takeaway conveyor. Several embodiments of the bag machine are disclosed.

Abstract: A web-fed rotary printing press apparatus for the production of printed products of various sizes is disclosed. The apparatus includes forme cylinders having removable printing formes of different sizes, adjustably positionable cross cutting cylinders, speed varying means for the collecting and transfer cylinders, and a longitudinal folding device. As the number and size of printing formes on the forme cylinder is varied to change the size of the printed product, the position of the cross cutting cylinders and the speeds of the collecting and transfer cylinders are selectively varied so that the different sized printed products will be correctly severed and folded into signatures.

Abstract: An apparatus for converting rolls of paper web into stacks of folded sheets on a continuous high speed basis includes slitting a supply roll into plural narrow webs, folding the narrow webs longitudinally, cutting the folded webs transversely into sheets of suitable length, pre-stacking continuous streams of adjacent folded sheets emerging from the cutters before they are carried to a final stacking mechanism. The pre-stacking mechanism removes certain sheets from their original positions in the continuous streams of folded sheets and places them on top of other sheets in the streams from which they were removed in order to deliver to the final stacking mechanism sets of pre-stacked sheets with a gap between adjacent sets.

Abstract: A sheet transfer apparatus which can vary the effective spacing between the cutting cylinder and the transfer cylinder and between the transfer cylinder and the folding blade cylinder in a folding cylinder group for a rotary web-fed printing press is disclosed. The cutting knives and complementary counter cut bars of the cutting and transfer cylinders, respectively, are radially adjustable on the cylinders to insure that the webs of paper are accurately cut into sheets and transferred to the pins of the folding blade cylinder. The spacings can be adjusted to allow the folding cylinder group to operate in straight, single collect, and double collect productions.

Abstract: A device for controlling the actuation of gripping means provided in a sheet assembling apparatus includes stationary and rotatable cam plates each having different and predetermined profiles, the rotatable cam plate being mounted eccentrically relative to the axis of the sheet collecting cylinder provided for the apparatus. The gripping means includes a follower roll in rolling engagement with the peripheral edge of the stationary cam plate to effect actuation of gripping fingers. The rotatable cam plate rotates together with the cylinder although it is capable of being shifted relative thereto about the cylinder axis whereby to prevent actuation of the gripping means as the follower roll engages at least one portion of the rotatable cam plate which may be shifted to overlie a cam portion of the stationary cam plate.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for assembling a block for a book or book section in a 2-up coming and going method of bookmaking by providing a stream of groups of book elements, each group containing all the primary pages of the book or book section. The groups of the stream are divided into first and second series and the groups of the first series are conveyed to a combining station around a turn-over member rotating about a horizontal axis so that each group of the first series is turned through 180.degree.. The groups of the second series are separately conveyed to the combining station and each group is arranged to be in half-block form before it reaches the combining station. At the combining station, the half-blocks of the series and the half-blocks of the second series are brought together in pairs by bringing each half-block of one series under a half-block of the other series to form blocks each comprising a half-block of the first series and a half-block of the second series.

Abstract: A continuous sheet collating system is disclosed for printed texts wherein a continuous web of printed sheet-like material is continuously fed to a continuously, uninterrupted, collating drum. The web is wrapped upon the rotating drum a number of times equal to the number of printed sheets (less one) desired in a (text) collated stack of printed sheets. The wrapped web is then severed at the desired wrap number to provide collated individual sheets of the printed text in their proper sequential order. These sheets are then discharged from the collating drum as a unitized mass of collated printed sheets in textual context.

Abstract: Sheet transfer drum for a printing press includes a shaft, a drum body fixed to the shaft, the drum body including a tube segment having two longitudinal edges, and respective guide rings fixed to both ends of the tube segment, the longitudinal edges of the tube segment defining a gap therebetween a gripper assembly is received in the gap and includes a gripper shaft, a row of grippers fixed to the gripper shaft and a vertically adjustable gripper bearing bar cooperating with the row of grippers for gripping a sheet to be transferred by the sheet transfer drum. A bearing is received in the gap for securing the gripper assembly to the shaft. The guide rings are formed with respective slots extending in peripheral direction of the drum body, and threaded fasteners respectively extend through the slots and releasably secure the guide rings to the shaft within the range of the slots.

Abstract: An apparatus for cutting, sorting and stacking paper or the like in sheet form is disclosed which includes means for collecting packets of sheets in tandem on a collecting drum prior to discharging the collected sheets to the stacker. The basic components consist of a sheet cutting section, a sheet collecting section, a sheet slow down section and a stacker unit. In the tandem collect mode of operation, the length of the cut sheets must be less than one-half the circumference of the collecting drum and the drive ratio between the sheet cutting section and the sheet collecting section is set at 2:1. Packets of sheets containing an odd number of sheets are collected in tandem on the collecting drum with the use of air showers that are controlled by microswitches in an air shower control unit that is driven by the cutting drum.

Abstract: Apparatus for handling articles, e.g. newspapers or magazines, having a rotatable member divided into a number of axially-adjacent units. Each unit is divided into a number of radially-extending compartments having feeding devices for transferring articles fed to the compartments of one unit to the compartments of the adjacent unit where additional articles, e.g. inserts, may be added.

Abstract: An apparatus for cutting, sorting and stacking paper or the like in sheet form is disclosed which includes means for collecting packets of sheets in tandem on a collecting drum prior to discharging the collected sheets to the stacker. The basic components consist of a sheet cutting section, a sheet collecting section, a sheet slow down section and a stacker unit. In the tandem collect mode of operation, the length of the cut sheets must be less than one-half the circumference of the collecting drum and the drive ratio between the sheet cutting section and the sheet collecting section is set at 2:1. Packets of sheets containing an odd number of sheets are collected in tandem on the collecting drum with the use of air showers that are controlled by microswitches in an air shower control unit that is driven by the cutting drum.