Feed device for binding wire

Abstract

 The invention relates to a feed device for binding wire (9) used to bind a number of sheets of paper or similar formed into a bundle, which device comprises a holder (3) for a removable magazine (2) of binding wire (9) and a feeder (10) for feeding forward in a sideways direction one binding wire (9) at a time from the magazine (2) to a position at which a bundle of paper can be hung onto the binding wire (9), and in that the feeder (10) comprises an extended recess (11), that is, in contrast, bowl-shaped in the transverse direction, for making contact with one side of the binding wire (9).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a feed device for binding wire used to bind together a number of paper sheets or similar formed into a bundle.

[0002] During the binding of paper sheets in medium-sized series, open binding wires cut to the correct length are often used, onto which bundles of paper sheets or similar in which holes have previously been punched are hung, after which the binding wire is clamped together by a machine in order to form the wire binding that holds the bundle of paper sheets together. "Binding wire" is here used to denote such wire as is sold by James Burn International Ltd., England, under the name of WIRE-O® . Different sizes with respect to diameter of the binding wire are used for this, depending on the number of paper sheets or similar that make up the bundle. The problem herewith is that the machine that is used for feeding the binding wire must be specially adapted for each size of binding wire, otherwise the wire becomes twisted in the wrong way, with the result that the bundle that has been prepared cannot simply be hung onto the open wire.

[0003] The aim of the invention is thus to achieve a new feed device for binding wires of the type described above, such that the problems specified above can be solved.

[0004] The above-mentioned aim of the invention is achieved with the aid of a feed device according to the invention, which comprises a holder for a removable magazine of binding wire and a feeder for feed in a sideways direction of one binding wire at a time from the magazine to a position in which a bundle of paper can be hung onto the binding wire, in which the feeder comprises an extended recess that in the transverse direction, in contrast, is bowl-shaped for making contact with one side of the binding wire.

[0005] It is easy with a removable magazine that is available in different sizes for different sizes of binding wire to change between different sizes of these wires in a machine that provides the feed of the binding wire, in order to adapt it to different thicknesses of the bundles of paper. One condition that is required for such a removable magazine of binding wire in different sizes to work in such a machine, however, is that the feeder in the machine is designed according to the invention, since otherwise the wire becomes twisted in the wrong way with the result that the bundle that has been prepared cannot simply be hung onto the open binding wire, or even cannot be so hung at all.

[0006] The invention will now be described in more detail in the form of an embodiment, illustrated with the aid of the attached drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows in schematic perspective view a feed device according to the invention, Fig. 2 shows a side view of the feed device according to the invention in side view, in partial cross-section, with a magazine containing large binding wires, Fig. 3 shows one part of the device in Fig. 2 at a larger scale, Fig. 4 shows a view equivalent to that in Fig. 3, but in a different position, Fig. 5 shows a view equivalent to that in Fig. 2 but with a magazine containing a smaller size of binding wires, Fig. 6 shows one part of the device in Fig. 5 at a larger scale, equivalent to that of Fig. 3, and Fig. 7 shows a side view of the feed device seen from the side opposite to that shown in Fig. 2.

[0007] Thus, Fig. 1 shows a machine for the feeding of binding wire. Only those parts of the machine that are significant for the invention will be described here. The machine comprises a frame or a support plate 1 on which the parts that constitute the machine are mounted, directly or indirectly. The support plate 1 is arranged to support a removable magazine 2 for binding wire. For this purpose, the support plate 1 supports a holder 3, as will be described in more detail below.

[0008] The removable magazine 2 is arranged to be inserted into the holder 3, and rests when in its mounted position with its bottom part 4 against the upper surface of the support plate 1 at one edge of the same. The holder 3 comprises an extended guide plate 5 that stretches parallel to the magazine 2, outside of it when viewed from the support plate 1 and along the lower part of the magazine; placed, however, at a certain distance from the lower edge of the magazine, as will be described in more detail below. The guide plate 5 is spring mounted by means of a spring 6 such that it lies in contact with the magazine 2, and such that it is possible to withdraw the guide plate 5 under spring pressure away from the support plate in order to facilitate insertion of the magazine into the holder 3. The holder 3 also comprises a pair of attachment pillars 7 that stand up from the support plate 1, arranged to be situated on opposite sides of the magazine 2 when the latter is mounted in the holder. It is appropriate that the attachment pillars 7 are provided with attachment means such as, for example, spring-mounted balls, in order to provide simple fastening of the magazine in the intended position. The magazine 2 can then be mounted by introducing its lower part in place on the support plate 1, with its upper part leaning backwards away from the guide plate 5, and by then swinging it up into a vertical position where the spring-loaded balls then engage into equivalent recesses in the sides of the magazine 2. It is also then easy to remove the magazine in an equivalent, but inverse, manner.

[0009] The removable magazine 2 is arranged in different sizes in order to be suitable for different sizes of binding wires, as can be seen by comparing Fig. 2 with Fig. 5. Depending on the size of the binding wires that are intended to be placed in the magazine, both the dimension of the depth of the magazine, labelled "d" in the drawings, and the thickness of the bottom 4 of the magazine, vary.

[0010] The rear wall 8 of the magazine is, as can be seen by comparing Fig. 2 with Fig. 5, in which the latter figure presents a magazine intended to receive a smaller size of binding wire 9, located closer to the guide plate 5, that is, the depth "d" is smaller than it is when using the magazine according to Fig. 2, which is intended to receive the largest size of binding wire (9) that the machine can handle. When inserting the magazine 2 into the holder 3, the magazine is further fastened with the aid of attachment means, such as the above-mentioned spring-loaded balls, to the attachment pillars 7 such that the centre of the central space of the magazine, in which the binding wires 9 are located, is always placed in approximately the same position and at the same distance from a feeder 10 attached to the support plate 1. The centre of the binding wires that are present in the magazine will thus always be located in approximately the same position, independently of the size of the binding wire. This makes it possible for the feeder 10 always to work with the same stroke length independently of the size of the binding wire, as will be described in more detail below.

[0011] The bottom 4 of the magazine also has a thickness that varies as has been mentioned above, and, as a comparison of Fig. 2 and Fig. 5 shows, such that the magazine that is intended for use with a smaller thickness of binding wire has a thicker bottom than the magazine that is intended for use with a larger size of binding wire 9. The thicknesses of the bottoms 4 in different sizes of the magazine are adapted to the binding wires that are to be inserted into them in such a manner that the location 9a on the binding wire 9 that lies at the bottom 4 of the magazine 2 at which the binding wire is broadest always lies at approximately the same height above the support plate 1, such that the feeder 10 will always be able to make contact with the binding wire approximately at its vertical centre 9a and thus be able to feed the binding wire forwards without the latter becoming twisted.

[0012] The feeder 10 comprises an extended beam that extends parallel to the magazine 2 and to the binding wires 9 that are laying in it, and, as has been described above, at the same height as the binding wire that lies at the bottom of the magazine. The beam 10 of the feeder demonstrates a bowl-shaped recess 11 facing the magazine or the binding wire 9, which recess forms a contact surface for the feeder beam 10 against the binding wire 9. The feeder beam 10 is further connected via jointed arms 12 to an eccentric disc 13 arranged with an electrical drive motor 14 to achieve a forwards and backwards motion of the feeder 10. The drive motor 14 is arranged fixed attached to the support plate 1. At the forward edge of the support plate 1, a contact means 15 is arranged to activate the drive motor 14 such that it achieves a rotation of the eccentric disc 13 of one revolution and in this way one stroke forwards and backwards of the forwards and backwards motion of the feeder 10.

[0013] The bowl-shaped recess 11 of the feeder beam 10 preferably demonstrates a bowl radius that is approximately equal to the radius of curvature of the binding wires 9 that the magazine 2 can contain. Further, it is appropriate that the recess demonstrates fluting that extends in the longitudinal direction of the bowl-shaped recess 11. The recess achieves due to this fluting contact at certain points with the binding wire 9, such that when the latter is displaced, the displacement occurs as a principally perpendicular displacement without the binding wire being twisted around its longitudinal axis, and without the contact points between it and the bowl-shaped recess sliding against the bowl-shaped surface of the recess.

[0014] The support plate 5 at the front edge of the device, and the fastening of the magazine 2 in the holder 3, are connected with the driving arrangement of the feeder 10, the jointed arms 12, so that they are displaced in collaboration with the motion of the feeder. When withdrawal of the feeder beam 10 from its contact with the binding wire 9 commences, the guide plate 5 is simultaneously lifted such that the opening 16 in the lower part of the magazine 2 becomes completely open such that the binding wire 9 can be driven out from the magazine 2 and removed from the device. When the feeder subsequently changes its direction of motion and is again displaced towards the magazine, the guide plate 5 also changes its direction of motion in order to be displaced downwards and again limit the opening 16 such that the binding wire 9 cannot leave the magazine 2 when it is fed forwards with the aid of the feeder 10.

[0015] When a binding wire 9 has been fed forwards by the feeder 10 out of the magazine 2, the guide plate 5 will descend down into the opening 9b of the binding wire 9 such that one end 9c of the binding wire will come into contact with the inner surface of the guide plate 5. In this condition, the feeder 10 will stop such that the feeder holds fixed the binding wire that has, for the most part, been fed out from the magazine. The binding wire 9 is then held as is shown in, for example, Fig. 4 with the opening 9c of the wire and its free end 9d located free outside of the feed device such that a bundle of paper in which holes have been punched can be inserted into the opening 9c of the binding wire and hung onto the free ends 9d of the wires. Once the bundle of paper has been hung onto the binding wire and released, the bundle of paper will hang vertically downwards and come into contact with the contact means 15, which is then arranged to activate the drive motor 14 such that it achieves a rotation of one revolution of the eccentric disc 13 and in this way one stroke forwards and backwards of the forwards and backwards motion of the feeder 10. The feeder 10 then releases its contact against the binding wire and the clamping of the latter against the inner surface of the guide plate 5, while at the same time the guide plate 5 is displaced upwards such that the binding wire 9 can be removed from the device, together with the bundle of paper that has been hung onto it, in order to be taken to a device for clamping of the binding wire such that the bundle of paper can be securely held together by the binding wire.

[0016] The motion of the drive motor 14 continues such that the eccentric disc 13 rotates one revolution, and the feeder 10 is drawn backwards out of the magazine 2 in order subsequently to be displaced again towards the magazine. When the previous binding wire has left the magazine, the subsequent binding wire that lies above it will be drawn downwards by gravity and will come into contact with the bottom 4 of the magazine 2, where this binding wire can then be fed forwards by the feeder 10 to the position that is shown, for example, in Fig. 4, and the procedure repeated.

[0017] The binding wires are normally delivered in sheets, with the different binding wires in one sheet being held together by longitudinal rods that extend perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the wires. These sheets can easily be placed into the present magazine, whereby it is appropriate that the bottom of the magazine is provided with openings through which the rods can be fed out downwards from the magazine.

[0018] The spring-loaded guide plate 5 provides not only the possibility of setting up magazines of different sizes very easily, but also security against crushing injuries since the moving part, the feeder beam, is fed only against the guide plate. The spring-loading of the guide plate is relatively weak, which is why there is no risk of crushing injuries occurring between the feeder beam and the guide plate.

Claims

1. A feed device for binding wire (9) used to bind a number of sheets of paper or similar formed into a bundle, characterised in that it comprises a holder (3) for a removable magazine (2) of binding wire and a feeder (10) for feeding forward in a sideways direction one binding wire (9) at a time from the magazine (2) to a position at which a bundle of paper can be hung onto the binding wire (9), and in that the feeder (10) comprises an extended recess (11), that is, in contrast, bowl-shaped in the transverse direction, for making contact with one side of the binding wire (9).

2. The feed device according to claim 1, characterised in that the bowl-shaped recess (11) demonstrates fluting that extends in the longitudinal direction of the bowl-shaped recess.

3. The feed device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that magazines (2) are arranged in different sizes depending on the size of the binding wire (9), whereby the thickness of the magazine (2), depth (d), varies according to the size of the binding wire (9).

4. The feed device according to claim 3, characterised in that the thickness of the bottom (4) of the magazine (2) also varies according to the size of the binding wire (9).

5. The feed device according to claim 3 or 4, characterised in that the holder (3) of the removable magazine (2) demonstrates at the lower part of the magazine (2) a guide plate (5) that is able to make contact with the outer surface of the magazine, which guide plate (5) is attached by springs (6) to the device (1) such that the guide plate (5) can be displaced towards and away from the magazine (2).

6. The feed device according to claim 5, characterised in that the magazine (2) demonstrates at its bottom part an extended opening (16), with a length that is equivalent to the length of one binding wire (9) and that is situated on the opposite side of the magazine (2) relative to the feeder (10), and is partially closed by the guide plate (5).

7. The feed device according to claim 6, characterised in that the guide plate (5) is arranged such that it can be raised and lowered in such a manner that during feeding of a binding wire (9) it is first arranged to be raised in order to release one binding wire (9) onto which a bundle of paper has already been mounted, and in that the guide plate (5) is subsequently arranged to be lowered such that the guide plate (5) protrudes into the opening (9b) of a new binding wire (9) that has been fed forward.

8. The feed device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the feeder (10) is connected to an eccentric disc (13) arranged to rotate one revolution during each activation, and in this one firstly to draw the feeder (10) backwards in a direction away from the magazine (2), and thereafter to drive the feeder (10) forwards again towards the magazine (2) for feeding of a new binding wire (9).

9. The feed device according to claim 8, characterised in that a contact means (15) is arranged at the lower surface of the device at the end at which the magazine (2) is arranged, in order to complete when contact is made with it an electrical circuit to send an impulse to an electric motor (14) that drives the eccentric disc (13) in order to cause the latter to rotate through one revolution.

10. The feed device according to claim 9, characterised in that the contact means (15) is arranged on the lower surface of the device such that contact is made with it by a bundle of paper that has been hung onto the binding wire (9) that is held fixed in the device.

Drawing