VACUUM OPERATED SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM FOR NEWSPAPER INSERTER

摘要

1312680 Feeding sheets DIODE-GLASER Inc 24 Sept 1970 [14 Oct 1969] 45476/70 Heading B8R A sheet feeding apparatus comprises a pile receptacle, e.g. a table 36 adjustable along a platform 34 for supporting piles on edge, a vacuum gripper assembly with at least one rotatable gripper engageable in one position with a marginal portion of an end sheet of the pile and movable on a carriage 96 along a path into a release position to bend said marginal portion away from the pile without moving the remainder of the sheet, and a conveyer unit mounted on said carriage for movement therewith and adapted to receive a bent sheet and withdraw it from said pile. The vacuum gripper comprises suction cups 182, Fig. 5, resiliently mounted on a tubular shaft 138 rotatably mounted on the carriage 96, Fig. 6, which is pivotally mounted by a shaft 104 on the main frame and oscillated by a crank and lever 90. The conveyer unit comprises two endless belts 118 located on wheels on shafts 138, 104, pinch rollers 126, Fig. 6, also mounted on the carriage 96, and biased into contact with the belts at shaft 104, and pinch rollers 160, Fig. 5, biased into contact with the belts at shaft 138, these latter rollers being mounted on arms 154 having spring-biased cam followers 168 co-operating with cams 164 on shaft 138. This shaft is connected at one end via a crank assembly 146, Fig. 5, to the main frame and has vacuum control valve plates 204, 208 at its other end, an apertured plate 212 pivotally connected to the carriage frame, being sandwiched therebetween. In operation, with the carriage 96 in its uppermost position, the suction grippers 182 are extended against their springs into contact with a marginal portion of a sheet by engagement with stationary cams (192), Fig. 12 (not shown), the carriage then being lowered about pivot shaft 104 causing shaft 138 and the associated suction grippers 182 to rotate clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 1, as a result of the crank mechanism 146, this rotation causing the grippers to retract as they are released from the cams (192). At the same time, valve plate 212 is lowered as far as a stop 240 and then relative movement between this plate and valve plates 204, 208 on shaft 138 cuts off the suction, releasing the bent-over, marginal portion of the sheet which is pinched by the rollers 160 against the conveyer belts 118 and fed away, for instance into an open newspaper in a tray 25, the rollers 160 being lowered to the belts by the cams on shaft 138. As the carriage is raised again, rollers 160 are raised from the belts and vacuum is restored unless the previously fed sheet does not actuate sensors (238), Fig. 3 (not shown), during its conveyance, in which case a solenoid 243, Fig. 5, prevents the valve plate 212 from restoring the vacuum.