The procedure and apparatus of the invention, hereinafter referred to as the solution of the invention, can be applied in the handling of many kinds of printed matter, and it is particularly well applicable for the handling of newspapers in a process where, after the printing, the newspapers are folded in half for distribution.

On of the problems at this stage of the handling of printed products is correct timing of the various stages of the process and control of the product flow. In prior- art solutions, separate devices are provided at the output end of the process for folding the printed products and conveying them further. Each one of these separate devices needs its own product line for printed products entering the folding process and for printed products already folded, and consequently the apparatus is expensive and takes up a large space. An apparatus consisting of several devices is also more susceptible to failure, which is why such an apparatus also requires more repair and maintenance work. Due to these factors, there inevitably occur more interruptions in operation. A further drawback is that operating an apparatus consisting of several different devices requires a large work force.

The object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks and to achieve an advantageous, reliable and fast procedure and apparatus for handling a product flow consisting of printed products that will work well and take up as little space as possible. The procedure of the invention is characterized by what is disclosed in the characterization part of claim 1, and the apparatus of the invention is characterized by what is disclosed in the characterization part of claim 4.

Other embodiments of the invention are characterized by what is disclosed in the other claims.

The solution of the invention has the advantage that the printed products, such as newspapers, can be handled at the output end of the process by a simple apparatus that does not take up much space. In addition, having a simple structure, the apparatus as a whole is not so susceptible to failure as more complicated solutions comprising several separate devices. A further advantage is that the solution of the invention does not involve much labor, allowing the labor to be employed in more useful work.

In the following, the invention will be described in detail by the aid of an embodiment example with reference to the attached drawings, wherein Fig. 1 presents an oblique top/side view of the apparatus of the invention in simplified and diagrammatic form, Fig. 2 presents a side view of the output end of the apparatus of the invention in simplified and diagrammatic form, Fig. 3 presents a simplified and diagrammatic side view of a flow splitter conveyor comprised in the apparatus of the invention, and Fig. 4 presents a simplified and diagrammatic top view of the flow splitter conveyor of the apparatus of the invention.

Fig. 1 presents a solution according to the invention, wherein a, continuous, evenly spaced product flow consisting of printed products 4, such as newspapers, is brought by means of a gripper conveyor 1 serving as a transfer device onto a splitter conveyor 2 functioning as a divider of the product flow. When the gripper 8 of the gripper conveyor 1 releases its grip of the leading edge of the printed product 4, the printed product can fall freely onto the splitter conveyor so that the trailing edge of the printed product is caught by an opened gripper element 9 of the splitter conveyor. As the gripper element is moving on, it closes up and pushes the printed product on the splitter conveyor before it along its own track towards a folding mechanism 10. The structure of the splitter conveyor 2 is such that the printed products 4 moving in succession and overlapping each other are separated at this stage from each other laterally relative to the direction of motion, being now indicated by reference numbers 4a and 4b.

The folding mechanism 10 comprises belt conveyors 13, whose conveying speed in the main direction 16 of motion of the printed products is higher than the conveying speed of the splitter conveyor. Thus, the belt conveyors 13 pull the printed products 4a and 4b away from the splitter conveyor as the products are released from the grip of the gripper elements 9, and the gripper elements 9 of the splitter conveyor turn empty to the return track on the lower side of the splitter conveyor. The belt conveyors 13 of the folding mechanism 10 pull the printed products 4a and 4b to a position below folder blades 3a and 3b, where the position of the printed products is identified and the folder blades fold the printed products in half by pressing them at the middle through the horizontal plane formed by the belt conveyors 13 onto intermediate conveyors 5 below.

The intermediate conveyors 5 bring the folded printed products 4a and 4b onto a star wheel 6 below them, which, while rotating about its horizontal axis, distributes the folded printed products evenly onto an output conveyor 7 below it, which then conveys the folded printed products as a steady product flow 4c into a further processing stage in the direction of arrow 19.

Fig. 2 presents a more detailed view of the final stage of the apparatus of the invention, but still in a simplified form. The belt conveyors 13 of the folding mechanism 10 are placed side by side in two groups so that the four belt conveyors of the first group transfer printed product 4a from the splitter conveyor 2 to a position below folding blade 3a while the four belt conveyors of the second group similarly transfer printed product 4b from the splitter conveyor 2 to a position below folding blade 3b. Placed below the folding blades are guide rollers 14, between which the folding blades press the printed products onto the intermediate conveyors 5 below. These consist of two pairs 5a, 5b and 5c, 5d in such manner that the first pair 5a, 5b conveys the folded printed product 4a downwards between them while the second pair 5c, 5d similarly conveys the folded printed product 4b between them. The speed of the intermediate conveyors 5 is so timed that and their lower ends so designed and positioned that the printed products 4a and 4b will be dropped from the intermediate conveyors 5 by turns into the slots 11 of the star wheel 6 placed close to the tail end of the conveyors 5 as the star wheel 6 is rotating at a suitable speed in the direction indicated by arrow 12. The star wheel 6 is placed either completely or partially below the tail ends of the intermediate conveyors 5.

Placed below the star wheel is an output conveyor 7, onto which the folded printed products 4a and 4b are dropped one by one from the star wheel. The speed of the output conveyor is synchronized relative to the rotational speed of the star wheel 6 so that the printed products falling from the slots 11 are placed in a partially overlapping order on the output conveyor, thus forming a continuous and steady product flow 4c consisting of folded printed products and moving in the direction of arrow 19 for further processing.

Figures 3 and 4 present a more detailed view of the splitter conveyor 2 according to the invention but still in a simplified form. The splitter conveyor 2 consists of a fixed frame part 22 and chains 20 on either side of it, which receive their driving force via chain wheels mounted with bearings on the frame part from a drive motor, which has been omitted from the figures for the sake of clarity. Attached to the chains 20 are a plurality of successive pairs of guide bars 21, which are disposed transversely with respect to the path of the splitter conveyor 2 which move along with the chains on the upper surface of the splitter conveyor in the direction of motion of the product flow 16 and return by the underside of the splitter conveyor. Mounted on each guide rail pair 21 is one gripper carriage 17a, 17b, which is arranged to be slidable in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail pair, i. e. in the transverse direction of the splitter conveyor 2, by means of two slide bushes 23. In addition, the gripper carriage has one guide roller, which is so placed between the slide bushes 23 that, as seen in the direction 16 of motion of the product flow, every second gripper carriage 17a has its guide roller 24a placed at the right-hand edge of the gripper carriage while in every second gripper carriage 17b the guide roller 24b is placed at the left-hand edge of the gripper carriage.

Inside the splitter conveyor 2 there is a set of guide rails, which is fixed with respect to the frame part and which forks out on the side of the upper part of the splitter conveyor, at the beginning of the splitter conveyor, into two branches 18a and 18b, which separate out in the transverse direction of the splitter conveyor towards the second end of the splitter conveyor, i. e. towards its delivery end. The width between the branches 18a and 18b of the guide rail set is at its largest at the extreme second end of the splitter conveyor, where the horizontal distance between them corresponds to the transverse horizontal distance between the folding blades 3a and 3b of the folding mechanism 10. At the delivery end of the splitter conveyor 2, the guide rails bend downwards like the chains 20, from where they extend back towards the beginning of the splitter conveyor. Extending on the side of the lower part of the splitter conveyor, the branches 18a and 18b of the guide rail set again converge in the transverse direction of the splitter conveyor, and as they rise like the chains 20 at the beginning of the splitter conveyor to the side of the upper part of the splitter conveyor and start running again in the direction of arrow 16, the branches 18a and 18b of the guide rail set lie closest to each other through. some distance. Thus, the successive gripper carriages 17a, 17b guided by the guide rails lie symmetrically on either side of the longitudinal center line of the splitter conveyor and one after the other on the same line. Every second gripper carriage 17a is guided by guide rail 18a, while correspondingly every second gripper carriage 17b is guided by guide rail 18b by means of the guide rollers 24a and 24b. Thus, the gripper carriages follow their respective guide rails and, as they move on in the direction of arrow 16, they separate the printed products 4a and 4b from each other transversely with respect to the direction 16 of motion.

In this way, two separate product flows are obtained from a single product flow. The conveying speed of the splitter conveyor 2 is substantially the same as the conveying speed of the gripper conveyor 1 delivering the printed products 4 onto the splitter conveyor.

Each gripper carriage 17a, 17b is further provided with a gripper element 9, which grips the printed product 4a or 4b and pushes it forwards as the guide bar pairs 21 are moving onwards in the direction of arrow 16. The gripper element 9 is actuated by a mechanism that opens the gripper element at each end of the splitter conveyor 2, so that a printed product can be caught by the gripper element at the beginning of the splitter conveyor and correspondingly released at the delivery end and moved further from the splitter conveyor. The same mechanism keeps the gripper element 9 closed in the straight portion of the splitter conveyor both on the upper and lower sides of the splitter conveyor.

By the procedure of the invention, the printed products 4 are handled as follows: The printed product flow consisting of printed products 4 is supplied as a continuous and steady flow onto the intermediate conveyor 2, where the printed product flow is split transversely with respect to the direction 16 of motion of the product flow into two mutually identical product flows, which together contain the same amount of printed products 4a and 4b per unit of time as the original product flow of printed products 4. Each of the two split flows of printed products is conveyed to a separate folding unit, where the printed products 4a and 4b are separately folded in half and then conveyed separately via the star wheel 6 onto the output conveyor 7, where they form a continuous product flow 4c, which advances at a speed substantially corresponding to the speed of advance of the original product flow 4. Product flow 4c contains the original printed products folded in half from their original state.

It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the embodiment example presented above, but that it may be varied within the scope of the claims to be presented below. Thus, the solution of the invention is not limited to the apparatus described in detail above, which comprises a gripper conveyor 1 and after it a splitter conveyor 2, which is further followed by a folding mechanism 10, a star wheel 6 and an output conveyor 7. For example, instead of a gripper conveyor 1, it is possible to use any other apparatus functioning as a delivery means which delivers a continuous and evenly spaced flow 4 of printed products to a device which divides the flow of printed products into two or more product flows and delivers the split product flows for further processing. Likewise, the split product flows need not necessarily be placed side by side, but they may also be arranged e. g. one above the other. Moreover, the guide rails 18a and 18b need not extend on the lower surface of the splitter conveyor 2 through the whole distance, but it is enough to have the guide rails so constructed that they will guide the gripper carriages 17a, 17b back to the center line after the delivery of the printed products. Likewise, it is preferable to provide the beginning of the splitter conveyor with widened portions at the beginnings of the guide rails 18a and 18b on the upper surface of the splitter conveyor so that the guide rollers 24a and 24b of the gripper carriages 17a, 17b will be reliably engaged and guided by the guide rails.