Patent ID: 7578501
Filing Date: 2009-08-25
Classification: B65H

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for feeding flat paper products, comprising: a feeder having a rotating gripper drum for pulling the leading edge of a flat paper product from the bottom of a stack; a pair of accelerator rollers contacting each other and adjacent to the drum for accelerating the product as the product comes off the drum; and a pair of decelerator rollers contacting each other, one of which is segmented and which presents a periphery which contacts the other decelerator roller, a high-friction material presenting a high friction surface covering a portion of the periphery of the segmented roller and a low friction material presenting a low friction surface covering a remaining portion of the periphery of the segmented roller, each of which portions defines an arcuate segment of the periphery of the segmented roller, the arcuate segment of the low-friction surface being radially inward of the arcuate segment of the high-friction surface, the decelerator rollers adjacent to the accelerator rollers for decelerating the product before the product is released into a third area wherein the surface of the high friction material provides more frictional resistance to sliding of flat paper products than the surface of the low friction material.