Folding Module With Elastic Rollers For Variable Weight Sheets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional folding modules struggle with folding sheets of paper that have locally variable weight distribution or additional bodies attached, leading to damage, detachment, and poor folding quality, especially when trying to fold items like bank cards or customer cards with high intrinsic weight and rigidity.
Innovation Solution
The folding module is designed with an adjustable folding knife path and elastic folding rollers, along with an auxiliary folding unit and hold-down devices, to ensure precise alignment and secure handling of paper sheets, preventing unwanted position changes during folding. The folding blade is advanced to press the paper sheets between the rollers only after initial contact, and the rollers are elastically braced to accommodate varying thicknesses, ensuring a consistent fold.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional folding modules with linearly adjustable folding knives are used, then folding of standard paper sheets is efficient, but sheets with locally variable weight distribution or additional bodies suffer from damage, detachment, and poor folding quality
Solution Approach 1:
The folding knife is made movable in the feed direction with an adjustable position, allowing the system to adapt dynamically to different sheet configurations and weight distributions, thereby preventing damage to additional bodies while maintaining folding efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The position of the folding knife along the feed direction is varied to optimize the folding process for sheets with locally variable weight distribution or additional bodies, changing the operational parameters to prevent damage and detachment
2Speed
If the folding blade is advanced early to press paper sheets into the infeed gap, then folding speed increases, but sheets may shift position causing misalignment from the intended fold contour
Solution Approach 1:
The folding knife is positioned in advance at an optimal location along the feed direction before the folding action occurs, allowing sheets to be properly aligned and prepared for folding without causing unwanted position changes, thus maintaining both speed and precision
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution ensures high-quality folding of paper sheets with variable weight distribution or additional bodies, preventing damage and detachment, and allows for precise alignment along the intended fold contour, improving the overall folding process and enabling efficient handling of sheets with uneven weight distribution.
Implementation Method 1
the folding rollers of the folding roller pair are elastically braced against one another in order to compensate for thickness tolerances of the medium to be folded
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a folding module for paper sheets having a positionally variable weight distribution and/or having additional bodies locally fastened thereto, comprising a folding-roller pair having two folding rollers for folding the paper sheets, which folding rollers are arranged parallel to each other at a variable distance and are elastically loaded against each other, a transport unit for feeding the paper sheets to the folding-roller pair, a stop for positioning the paper sheets in relation to the folding-roller pair, a folding sword, which can be linearly displaced and which can be brought from a base position, in which the folding sword is spaced apart from the folding-roller pair and the paper sheets can be supplied by means of the transport unit, into a folding position in such a way that the paper sheets are pressed between the folding rollers by the folding sword, wherein the folding-roller pair and the folding sword are provided on opposite sides of the transport unit in the base position and an opening is provided on the transport unit, into which opening the folding sword reaches in the folding position of the of the folding sword, wherein a displacement distance of the folding sword between the base position and the folding position is sized in such a way and a relative association of the folding sword with the folding-roller pair is defined in such a way that the folding rollers are pushed apart by the folding sword in the folding position.