Patent ID: 9682415
Date: 2017-06-20
CPC Classifications: B21D,B65B,B65G,B65H

Claim:
1. A method of separating stacked lubricated aluminum sheets, comprising: a) placing a lift underneath a lowermost lubricated aluminum sheet of a stack of lubricated aluminum sheets at a position between opposing edges in the lowermost lubricated aluminum sheet, wherein each lubricated aluminum sheet of the stack of lubricated aluminum sheets comprises a longitudinal direction, a lateral direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and edges that extend in the longitudinal direction; b) imparting a curvature in the lateral direction in the aluminum sheets of the stack of lubricated aluminum sheets by the lift and separating the edges of the lowermost lubricated aluminum sheet that extend in the longitudinal direction from the edges of an adjacent lubricated aluminum sheet that extend in the longitudinal direction such that the edges of at least the lowermost lubricated aluminum sheet of the stack of lubricated aluminum sheets that extend in the longitudinal direction bend downwards, wherein the curvature is a concave curvature facing the lift that causes the edges of an uppermost lubricated aluminum sheet of the stack of lubricated aluminum sheets that extend in the longitudinal direction to separate from the stack of lubricated aluminum sheets, and creating a curvature in the topmost sheet that is less than the curvature of the next topmost sheet and separating vertically the respective edges of the topmost sheet and the next topmost sheet; and c) individually separating at least some of the lubricated aluminum sheets from the stack of lubricated aluminum sheets.