Apparatus for selective wrapping of products and a method thereof

• US 6,269,609 B2
• Filed: 06/15/1999
• Issued: 08/07/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Quad Graphics, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Quad Graphics, Inc.
• Inventors: Geres, John C., Graushar, William T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Peter
• Assistant Examiner(s): Huynh, Louis K.
• Application Number:
  US09/333,710
• Publication Number:
  US 20010001359A1
• Time in Patent Office: 784 Days
• Field of Search: 531/54, 531/55, 531/68, 532/03, 53/52, 198/341.03, 198/341.06, 198/347.2, 198/347.4
• US Class Current: 53/168
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 25/14 Packaging paper or like sheets, envelopes, or newspapers, in flat, folded, or rolled form

Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus and a method to produce magazines, books, catalogues, brochures, periodicals, or the like on a collation or binding line, transport these products in a single stream of products towards a packaging line, divide the single stream of products into distinct streams of products where one such stream comprises products requiring wrapping and another such stream comprises products which do not require wrapping, transport the products requiring wrapping to a wrapping machine and sending these products through a wrapping process, transport the products that do not require wrapping around the wrapping machine, and merge the separate streams of products back into a single stream of products such that the products are arranged in a predetermined output order, such as demographic order.

Claims

1. An apparatus for wrapping selected products from a plurality of products, said apparatus comprising:

an in-feed conveyor for continuously moving a stream of a plurality of products along an in-feed path;

a wrapper bypassing conveyor positioned along said in-feed path adapted to deliver certain selected products from said in-feed path to a further processing destination;

a wrapper for individually wrapping selected products within the stream of products;

a pre-wrapper accumulating conveyor including a first portion and a second portion, each of said first and second portions extends from the in-feed conveyor to the wrapper, wherein the first and second portions of the pre-wrapper accumulating conveyor alternatingly operate such that one of said first and second portions operates at the speed of the in-feed conveyor to receive the selected products from the in-feed conveyor and the other of said first and second portions operates at the speed of the wrapper to supply the selected products to the wrapper;

a post-wrapper accumulating conveyor including a first portion and a second portion, each of said first and second portions extends from the wrapper to the wrapper bypassing conveyor, wherein the first and second portions of the post-wrapper accumulating conveyor alternatingly operate such that one of said first and second portions operates at the speed of the wrapper to receive the selected products from the wrapper and the other of said first and second portions operates at the speed of the wrapper bypassing conveyor to supply the selected products to the wrapper bypassing conveyor; and

a control unit for determining in a pre-processing step which products shall be wrapped and therefore travel through said wrapper and which products shall not be wrapped and therefore travel along said wrapper bypassing conveyor.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first portion of the pre-wrapper accumulating conveyor is a first tier and the second portion of the pre-wrapper accumulating conveyor is a second tier.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein only one of said first and second tiers receives and collects the selected products at any given time.

4. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein only one of said first and second tiers conveys the selected products to the wrapper at any given time.

5. An apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

a diverter device positioned upstream of said pre-wrapper accumulating conveyor for directing products into the appropriate first or second tier.

6. An apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

a diverter device positioned downstream of said pre-wrapper accumulating conveyor and upstream of said wrapper for directing products into said wrapper from said appropriate first or second tier.

7. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said post-wrapper accumulating conveyor includes a first tier and a second tier.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein only one of said first and second tiers receives and collects selected wrapped products at any given time.

9. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein only one of said first and second tiers conveys the wrapped products to the transport conveyor at any given time.

10. An apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

a diverter device positioned downstream of the wrapper and upstream of the post-accumulating conveyor for directing products into the appropriate first or second tier.

11. An apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

a diverter device positioned downstream of the post-wrapper accumulating conveyor for directing products from the appropriate first or second tier to the transport conveyor.