1. A machine for palletizing substantially parallelepipedic objects, comprising:
at least one conveyor for feeding objects successively one by one,
a station for orienting each object in a horizontal plane with respect to a fixed horizontal direction,
a grouping station for forming objects into a group able to form a layer of a palletized load comprising a stack of layers of objects, the grouping station being adapted to place each object supplied by the feed conveyor in a position that it is to occupy in the forming of a layer;
a layer-stacking unit adapted to grasp and transport in a single block each layer previously formed at the grouping station on to a palletized load in the course of being formed by a stacking of layers,
wherein the grouping station comprises:
a reference stop, firmly mounted to a fixed structure and adapted to stop an object in a horizontal transverse abutment direction,
an abutment conveyor for placing an object to be positioned in abutment against the reference stop,
a layer-forming surface extending laterally opposite the reference stop, said layer-forming surface being movable in horizontal translation along an axis orthogonal to the direction of the reference stop under the effect of a driving device,
a motorized thruster adapted to displace the object located against the reference stop onto a predetermined zone of the layer-forming surface corresponding to the position the object is to occupy in the layer in the course of formation,
an automatic control system adapted to control said driving device so as to position laterally opposite the reference stop a zone of the layer-forming surface which is to receive the object located against the reference stop, and to control the thruster so that said object is displaced to said zone of the layer-forming surface.
2. A machine as claimed in the claim 1, wherein the layer-forming surface comprises a table mounted on a fixed structure for movement in horizontal translation in one direction or the other and to be maintained in a fixed position after having been displaced.
3. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the layer-forming surface comprises an endless belt conveyor movable in horizontal translation.
4. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the layer-forming surface extends horizontally at least substantially at the height of the abutment conveyor, and wherein the motorized thruster is mounted to be movable in horizontal translation with respect to the fixed structure parallel to the direction of the reference stop.
5. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thruster is carried and guided by a slide extending above the abutment conveyor and the layer-forming surface, at a height greater than that of the objects.
6. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the automatic control system controls the thruster in such a way that the latter pushes a plurality of objects located in abutment against one another against the reference stop.
7. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thruster displaces simultaneously a number of objects smaller than that of a row of a layer of the palletized load.
8. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the orientation station includes a gripper adapted to grasp each object by two opposed vertical faces of the object and to pivot the object on itself about a vertical access so as to subject the object, once grasped by the gripper, to a rotation through an angle equal to a multiple of 90\xb0 in one direction or the other.
9. A machine as claimed in claim 8, wherein the gripper is mounted on a support arranged above the feed conveyor at a height greater than that of the objects, and has two opposed jaws which are spaced apart at rest, before grasping an object, by a distance greater than the largest horizontal dimension of the objects.
10. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the layer-stacking unit includes a device for gripping in one block a layer previously formed on the layer-forming surface, and means for displacing the gripping device in vertical translation in order to raiselower a layer, and in horizontal translation in order to transport the layer held by the gripping device from the layer-forming surface until it is plumb with respect to a pallet or a palletized load in the course of formation.
11. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the layer-stacking unit also includes a device for re-centering and alignment by simultaneous clamping of the sides of the last stacked layer of the palletized load which is to receive the transported layer.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A printing system, comprising:
at least one ink-jet printing head operative to eject ink droplets toward a printable media path;
a cut sheet transport system spaced from the printing head and operative to transport one or more cut sheets along the path with a first side of the cut sheets lacing the printing head to receive ejected ink droplets; and
a moisture source with an outlet spaced from the path and operative to direct water droplets or mist toward at least a potion of the first side of the one or more cut sheets moving along the path in a moisturizing zone extending across the path upstream from the printing head.
2. The printing system of claim 1, wherein the moisturizing zone extends across the path upstream from the cut sheet transport system.
3. The printing system of claim 1, further comprising a controller operatively coupled with the cut sheet transport system and with the moisture source to control a sheet transport speed of the transport system and to control an amount of moisture transferred to the cut sheets.
4. The printing system of claim 3, wherein the moisture source is operative to direct water droplets or mist toward less than all of the first side of the cut sheets moving along the path.
5. The printing system of claim 1, wherein the moisture source is operative to direct water droplets or mist toward less than all of the first side of the cut sheets moving along the path.
6. The printing system of claim 5, wherein the moisture source is operative to direct water droplets or mist toward a leading edge of the first side of the cut sheets moving along the path.
7. The printing system of claim 1, further comprising a dryer spaced from the path between the moisture source and the printing head and operative to at least partially dry the one or more cut sheets moving along the path downstream of the moisturizing zone.
8. The printing system of claim 1, wherein the moisture source is operative to direct water droplets or mist toward only a leading edge of the first side of the cut sheets moving along a path.
9. The printing system of claim 8, wherein the moisturizing zone overlies a portion of a belt of the cut sheet transport system beyond a flat portion of the belt.
10. The printing system of claim 1, wherein the moisturizing zone overlies a portion of a belt of the cut sheet transport system beyond a flat portion of the belt.
11. A method of decurling cut sheet print media for ink-jet printing, the method comprising:
transporting one or more cut sheets along a path;
decurling the cut sheets by directing water droplets or mist toward at least a portion of a first side of the cut sheets in a moisturizing zone extending across the path; and
transporting the decurled cut sheets past an ink-jet printing head with the first side of the cut sheets facing the printing head to receive ink droplets ejected by the printing head.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein decurling the cut sheets comprises directing water droplets or mist toward less than all of the first side of the cut sheets moving along the path.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein transporting the decurled cut sheets past the ink-jet printing head comprises providing vacuum force attracting a second side of the cut sheets.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein decurling the cut sheets comprises directing water droplets or mist toward a leading edge of the first side of the cut sheets moving along the path.
15. The method of claim 11, further comprising controlling a sheet transport speed at which the cut sheets are transported along the path and controlling an amount of moisture transferred to the cut sheets.
16. The method of claim 11, further comprising at least partially drying the cut sheets after decurling and prior to transporting the decurled cut sheets past the ink-jet printing head.
17. The method of claim 11, wherein decurling the cut sheets comprises directing water droplets or mist toward only a leading edge of the first side of the cut sheets moving along the path.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the moisturizing zone overlies a portion of a belt of a cut sheet transport system beyond a flat portion of the belt.
19. The method of claim 11, wherein the moisturizing zone overlies a portion of a belt of a cut sheet transport system beyond a flat portion of the belt.