Apparatus and method of delivering signatures to a binding line
View Patent ↗An apparatus and method for delivering signatures to a binding line, the apparatus and method preferably comprising a printer feeder apparatus and method for providing personalized information in a variety of locations upon a selected one of a plurality of signatures types before the signatures are fed to the binding line.
1. An apparatus for delivering signatures to a finishing line, the apparatus comprising:
a frame;
a pair of hoppers supported by the frame, each hopper adapted to hold a stack of signatures;
a first feeder supported by the frame and adapted to extract one signature from the stack of signatures in the first hopper;
a second feeder supported by the frame and adapted to extract one signature from the stack of signatures in the second hopper;
a printer supported by the frame and adapted to print on the extracted signature from either the first or second hopper; and
a conveyor supported by the frame and adapted to transport the printed extracted signatures to the finishing line.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each hopper holds the stack of signatures in a horizontal orientation.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first and second feeders include a pickup drum.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the printer includes an ink jet printer.
5. A printer feeder for use with a finishing line comprising:
a frame;
a plurality of hopper feeders supported by the frame, each of the hopper feeders including a hopper to hold a stack of signatures and a feeder adapted to extract one signature from the respective stack of signatures;
a printer supported by the frame, the printer adapted to print on the extracted signatures; and
a conveyor supported by the frame and adapted to transport the extracted printed signatures from the printer to the finishing line.
6. The printer feeder of claim 5 wherein the printer includes an ink jet printer.
7. The printer feeder of claim 5 wherein the plurality of hopper feeders is two hopper feeders.
8. The printer feeder of claim 5 and further including a controller programmed to selectively operate the hopper feeders.