Apparatus and method for folding cut sheet paper
US4721504A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 4, 1986 |
| Grant date | Jan 26, 1988 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 4, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB65H45/22
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Disclosed is an automatic paper folding apparatus and method for folding cut sheet paper products, whether single sheets or multiple plies as in a "signature" that is already folded by a printing press. The apparatus of the invention contains at least one pair of opposed belts which continuously grip the products and carry then through the apparatus. At least one set of freely rotatable rollers is arrayed along the direction of travel. Each belt has a flat paper-gripping surface, a longitudinal groove on the opposite surface that receives a guide roller, and at least one side surface that slopes away from the folding line. Each roller has a conical forming surface. The angle of inclination of the conical surfaces of the rollers in a set increases incrementally along the direction of travel. As the belts carry the sheets through the apparatus, they each engage the conical surfaces to fold the sheet against a belt with no substantial degree of relative movement between the sheets and either the belts or rollers. A first set of rollers folds the paper from 0.degree. to 90.degree.. A second set of rollers, each of which has an axis of rotation generally perpendicular to that of the rol…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.