If a sheet of paper is laid on a flat surface and driven into a stationary object, a buckle or a series of buckles will form along the surface of the sheet.
If the paper is pushed into a narrow channel before butting up against the stationary object, the buckle that forms in the channel will be a much smaller size than free-forming buckles. At the end of the channel, however, larger buckles will again start to form.
If the channel is angled to produce a down-ward pressure, and two folding rollers, spinning as indicated above, are placed close to the end of the channel, the larger buckles that start forming there will always form down-ward and be pulled into the rollers, compressing into a fold.
On a buckle folder (like 714), the sheet comes out of the feeder flat and enters the fold plate assembly where it comes to a stop against a stationary fold stop. A series of buckles then forms through the sheet. The buckles within the fold plate are kept very small by the narrow channel design. The buckle at the end of the plate, however, will be larger. The fold plate and rollers are configured such that the large buckle will always form downward where it is grabbed by the fold rollers and compressed into a fold. The picture shows the second plate deflected. This would mean a single fold.
Mid-State Litho, Inc.
5459 Fenton Rd.
Flint, MI 48507
midstatelitho.com
