^■ This invention relates to a device for stitching together a continuously fed paper web, especially such a stitching device as is mounted in a press or a following folder.

Devices for stitching together a continuously fed paper web are known which comprise two sets of stitch¬ ing units each consisting of a cooperating supporting cylinder and a stitching cylinder as well as a feeding device advancing sitching material to the stitching cylinder, said feeding devide including a feeder hous¬ ing and a shaping roller.

These previously known devices are specially made for the user with the two sets of stitching units ar- ranged in a spaced relationship on their respective shafts in accordance with the user's desire. The sup¬ porting cylinder, the stitching cylinder and the feed¬ ing device are adapted in the stitcher so that they cannot be moved but are secured at the mutual distance fixed from the beginning. Thus, such a device is in principle intended for stitching together a product or type of product decided from the beginning and the distance between the stitching units cannot be changed. However, it is possible to rebuild the device by such means in order to obtain another distance between the stitching units, but such a reconstruc ion requires a lot of money and, moreover, a period of rest for the device .

It has therefore been the object of this invention to provide a device of the above-men ioned type, by means of which it wiil be possible to enable in a re¬ latively simple way, and by the user himself, a shift¬ ing of the distance between two stitching units, which shifting must be possible to carry out in a short time in order to reduce the time of standstill as much as

possible and by which it is possible to stitch together a paper web fed at a high rate.

The above-mentioned object of the invention has been achieved in that the invention has been given the features defined in the claims.

The invention will now be explained in greater de¬ tail in the form of a non-limiting illustrative example shown on the enclosed drawings, wherein Fig . 1 is a sectional view of a device according to the invention, Fiσ. 2 shows a vertical section of the end portion of the device of the' invention, especially the driving system of the device, and Ficr. 3 shows a detail of the wire when advanced in the stitcher of the invention. Thus, in Fig. 1 a device of the invention for stitching together a continuously fed paper web 1 is shown schematically by the dash-dot line. The device is preferably arranged directly at the end of a printing press to stitch together the paper web coming there¬ from. The paper web 1, which of course comprises sever- al layers to be stitched together is fed through the nip between a stitching cylinder 2 and a supporting cy¬ linder 3 for carrying out stitching. The stitching cy¬ linder 2 is rotatably carried on a shaft 2' and the supporting cylinder 3 is rotatably carried on a shaft 3'. Stitching material in the form of a continuous wire wound off a storage roller is fed to the stitching cy¬ linder by way of a feeding device 4 and a shaping rol¬ ler 5 to cut off the continuous wire and bend the stitching material thus formed before it is received by the stitching cylinder 2 to be pressed through the paper web 1 and folded by the counter-pressure against the supporting cylinder 3.

In the device of the invention the stitching cy¬ linder 2 and the feeding device 4 are attached to a common carrier in the form of a mounting plate carrying

these. The mounting plate 6 is provided with two guide housings 7 which each engage a guide beam 8 extending in parallel with the shafts 2', 3' of the stitching cy¬ linder and the supporting cylinder. The mounting plate 6 is arranged to be movable along the guide beams 8 to¬ gether with the stitching cylinder 2 and the feeding device 4 supported thereon and consequently also along the shaft 2' of the stitching cylinder 2. The guide housing 7 of the mounting plate 6 comprises locking screws 9, by means of which the guide housing can be locked at the guide beam 8 in an arbitrary position along the guide beam. The shaft 2' of the stitching cy¬ linder 2 comprises a longitudinal groove 10 in which a guide pin 11 of the stitching cylinder 2 can engage so that the stitching cylinder is always attached in the right angular position relative to the shaft 2' . The guide pin 11 may also be threaded and accessible from the outside of the stitching cylinder 2 , as indicated in the figure, in order to be threaded into the stitch- ing cylinder 2 and contribute to its locking in a de¬ sired position along the shaft 2', simultaneously with tightening the locking screws 9 for locking the guide housings 7 along the guide beams 8. The shaping roller 5 is also placed on a shaft 5' extending substantially along the whole device and can be moved in the longi¬ tudinal direction of the shaft 5' when moving the mounting plate 6 that can also guide the shaping rol¬ ler. On the other hand, the wheels shown in the feeding device 4 are supported by means of bearings in the mounting plate 6 and, thus, not placed on any through shaft. The two wheels of the feeding device 4 are operated via the shaping roller 5 by means of driving belts, as indicated in Fig. 1. The shaping roller 5 is fastened relative to the mounting plate 6 along its shaft 5' by means of locking screws hot shown.

The supporting cylinder 3 carried on its through longitudinal shaft 3' is separately attached to this and guided in a definite angular position relative to the shaft 3' by means of a guide pin 12 indicated in Fig. 1 and is, further, lockable in an arbitrary posi¬ tion along the shaft 3' by means of a locking screw in¬ dicated in the figure with a dashed line which can have a tapered contact surface, see Fig. 1.

Thus, in Fig. 1 a vertical section of the drive end of the device according to the invention, is shown. An input drive shaft 14 is driven by a motor not shown, said shaft being connectable by means of a coupling 15 to the shaft 3' of the supporting cylinder 3 which is on a line with the input drive shaft 14. On the outer- most end of the shaft 3' a gear 3" is attached which is in engagement with a corresponding gear 2" on the shaft 2' which, in turn, is in engagement with a gear 5" on the end of the shaft 5' . In this way a synchronous drive of the shafts 3', 2' and 5' is obtained and cσn- sequently also of the supporting cylinder 3, the stitching cylinder 2 and the shaping roller 5. As men¬ tioned above, the wheels in the feeding device 4 ad¬ vancing wire to form stitching material to a shaping roller 5 are driven by means of driving belts or gears which, in turn, are driven by the shaping roller 5 or its shaft 5 ' .

In Fig. 2 a stitching unit is shown which is sup¬ ported by the shafts 2', 3' and 5', but the device com¬ prises at least another stitching unit attached to the shafts 2', 3' and 5' in the exensiσn of these, to the right in Fig. 2, spaced from the stitching unit shown. The guide beams 8 also continue in parallel with the shafts and the device can comprise more than two stitching units in a spaced relationship. In each such stitching unit the stitching cylinder, the feeding de-

vice and the shaping roller are preferably supported by a mounting plate which is movable by means of their guide housings along the guide beams 8 so that this part of each stitching unit can be moved as one unit along the shafts and be attached at an arbitrary place along these. The supporting cylinders associated with each stitching unit can also be detached separately in a corresponding way and be moved for adjustment at the level of the associated stitching cylinder. The feeding device 4 comprises preferably a pair of feeding wheels (not shown) for advancing the wire 15 in the direction of the arrow 17 to the stitching cy¬ linder 2, said feeding wheels being driven synchronous¬ ly with the stitching and supporting cylinders. The wire 16 which is drawn off the coil (not shown), on which it is wound by means of the feeding wheels is led through a channel 18 up to the position (indicated by the arrow 19) where the stitching cylinder 2 is to grip the wire 16 and is cut there by a knife (not shown) and delivered to the stitching cylinder 2. The wire 16 is fed at a substantially constant pressure up to the stitching cylinder 2, but by means of a recess on the periphery of one of the feeding wheels the feeding pressure is reduced occasionally on the very occasion when the knife cuts the wire 16. Just before the arrival at the cutting position and the knife the channel 18 through which the wire is fed is formed in a curve in a feeding plate 20. Thanks to this curve the wire 16 is braked when the feeding pressure decreases, exactly when the wire is cut, said wire 16 being stop¬ ped in this way when cut. As the wire is still, the free end of the wire will not be pressed immediately against the side of the knife which should otherwise lead to a considerable wear thereof. In order to facilitate the adjustment of the

stitching unit along the shafts 2', 3' and 5' the shafts or guide beams can be provided with adjusting notches in the form of e.g. cuts in order to simplify the setting in predetermined positions. A motor drive for moving the stitching units along the shafts and the guide beams for adjustment in arbitrary or determined preselected positions can also be arranged.

The shafts can also be driven in any other way permitting a synchronized drive, for instance by means of a toothed belt.