Patent ID: 6682065
Filing Date: 2004-01-27
Classification: B65B,B65H

Abstract:
Device for feeding objects which have a shape of essentially flat but flexible sheets or blanks of sheet material, piece by piece from the top of a magazine, said magazine being a buffer store consisting of a plurality of such objects which are arranged on top of one another, said device comprising:separation means for parting an uppermost object from underlying objects in said magazine, before said uppermost object is moved from the magazine; first motion devices for removing the parted uppermost object from said magazine; said separation means comprising members provided to bend at least said uppermost object to adopt an upwardly convex shape, while an adjacently underlying object is bent to a less convex shape than said uppermost object, or remains at least essentially flat, before said uppermost object has been removed from said magazine, a storage containing a stack consisting of a larger number of objects than said buffer store; second motion devices for replenishing said buffer store from said storage; said separation means comprising at least two opposite separating elements, at least one on each side of said buffer store, for pressing against two opposite edge portions of at least said uppermost object in said buffer store, so that said uppermost object is kept tensioned as a bow to form said convex shape; an entrance portion provided under said buffer store for guiding objects up into said buffer store; and at least a pair of entrance elements provided on each side of said stack in said entrance portion, said entrance element on each side of the stack having upwards-inwards inclined surfaces facing one another, said surfaces urging the uppermost objects of the stack to adopt a bow-shaped, upwardly convex shape, before they are pressed further upwards by said second motion devices in order successively to be included with the buffer store; the upper edges of said upwards-inwards inclined surfaces of said entrance elements which face one another being separated by a distance which is smaller than the distance between the two opposite separation elements in their lowermost ends.