Patent ID: 6022014
Filing Date: 2000-02-08
Classification: B65H

Abstract:
Improved apparatus for feeding folded sheets of paper from a stack thereof in a first, frontal direction to a book assembly conveyor, the feeding apparatus cooperating with other like apparatus and the assembly conveyor to form an ordered consolidation of folded sheets, said feeding apparatus comprising:a magazine for receiving a stack of folded sheets, said magazine including a movable base for supporting the stack, said base defining a support plane and being dimensioned to provide an open area in which the stack will be unsupported, said open area being at least in part in registration with a lateral edge region of the lowermost sheet of the stack in the magazine, said open area encompassing at least a portion of the fold in the lowermost sheet, said magazine having a sheet discharge opening, the motion of said base in said first direction generating a force component directed toward said discharge opening, said force component being coupled to the lowermost sheet in said magazine whereby the lowermost sheet may be moved relative to the remainder of the stack to cause a front edge region thereof to pass through said discharge opening;a movable pneumatic sheet separator for generating a sheet deflection force, said sheet separator operating through said open area of said magazine base to cause the deflection of a portion of the lowermost sheet of the stack in said magazine away from said support plane whereby said deflected portion of said lowermost sheet is separated from an adjacent sheet in the stack in said magazine;means for producing an air cushion between at least a part of the upper surface of the lowermost folded sheet of the stack in said magazine and at least a part of the lower surface of an adjacent sheet in the stack, said air cushion producing means operating subsequent to said partial deflection of the lowermost sheet to inject pressurized air into the space between the lowermost and adjacent sheets, said air cushion facilitating movement of the lowermost sheet relative to the adjacent sheet in response to movement of said magazine base; anda withdrawal conveyor positioned adjacent said magazine discharge opening, said withdrawal conveyor engaging the front edge of a sheet moved through said discharge opening and withdrawing the engaged sheet from said magazine.