Method for transporting and registering stacked sheets

A method for registering a stack of sheets with respect to perpendicularly related axes includes the steps of providing a first sleeve for accommodating the stack of sheets; providing a stop at one end of the sleeve; placing the stack in the sleeve; and providing in the sleeve a fluid stream, whereby the fluid stream moves the sheets down the sleeve in unison and moves the sheets into registration with a wall of the sleeve and the stop. In a modified method a second sleeve is provided in alignment with and adjacent to said first sleeve. The sheets are first placed inside the second sleeve and fluid is drawn from the first sleeve to move the stack. Assistance in moving the stack is provided by fluid injected into the second sleeve, care being taken to prevent a net flow of air out of a gap between the first and second sleeves.

The subject invention generally relates to a pneumatic method for moving 
articles, in unison, along a transport and, in particular, to a method for 
moving a plurality of stacked articles, such as paper sheets, into 
registration. 
The use of fluid to move articles into registration with stops is a part of 
the prior art which is relevant herein. In fact, such use of fluids is 
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,588,096, issued to Leigh D. Leiter on June 
28, 1971. More particularly, the patent discloses apparatus wherein fabric 
is delivered to a horizontally disposed support including recessed areas 
housing upwardly pointed nozzles. The nozzles are aligned in two different 
directions, and the nozzles pointing in one direction are alternately 
actuated with respect to the nozzles pointing in the other direction to 
move the fabric into registration in perpendicular directions. Further, 
the use of fluids for rectilinearly moving an article within a conduct or 
chamber is also known. In fact, this concept is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 
3,422,411, issued to J. E. Smith, Jr., on Jan. 14, 1969. More 
specifically, this patent discloses a data storage cartridge which has an 
enclosed transfer chamber housing a data storage card. Air pressure and 
vacuum pressure are switched between opposite ends of the chamber to 
reciprocally move the card rectilinearly in the chamber. As is disclosed 
in U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,964, issued to C. E. Spyropoulus on Dec. 29, 1970, 
fluidic systems for transporting items along a guide path in serial 
fashion are known. 
It is noted that with the apparatus disclosed by Leigh D. Leiter as fabric 
is advanced, or when fabric which is smaller than the distance between 
nozzles is to be registered, some of the nozzles discharge into the 
surrounding air without having any effect on the fabric as it is moved 
into registration. Thus, pressurized air is wasted. In addition, it is 
noted that in the system disclosed by J. E. Smith, Jr., lateral 
registration is provided by the distance between walls of the chamber 
which are parallel to the direction of travel of the storage card. 
Therefore, the system cannot be used with cards having different width 
dimensions. The Spyropoulus patent teaches that a plurality of articles 
should be transported serially to avoid bunching or blockage within a 
guide path. As will appear, this concept is at odds with applicant's 
invention. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a fluidic method for 
moving a plurality of stacked sheets in unison within a guide path. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for 
efficiently moving one or more sheets into registration with 
perpendicularly relates axes. 
Briefly, the invention disclosed herein provides a method for transporting 
in unison a stack of substantially flat sheets, the length and width of 
the sheets being within predetermined ranges. More specifically, the 
method includes the steps of: providing a sleeve for internally 
accommodating said stack of sheets; placing said stack of sheets in the 
sleeve; and providing a fluid stream in the sleeve, whereby the fluid 
stream moves the stack in unison along the length of the sleeve. 
The invention disclosed herein may also provide a method for registering a 
stack of sheets with respect to perpendicularly relates axes, the sheets 
having length and width dimensions within predetermined ranges. This 
method includes the steps of: providing a sleeve for internally 
accommodating said stack of sheets, at least one point on an inner narrow 
wall of the sleeve being aligned in parallel with one of the axes; 
providing a stop at one end of the sleeve, the stop having at least one 
point aligned in parallel with the other of the axes; placing said stack 
of sheets in the sleeve; and providing in the sleeve a fluid stream having 
velocity components normal to each of the axes, whereby the stream moves 
each of the sheets into abutment with said points. 
With the method set forth above registration of randomly disposed sheets of 
different sizes may be achieved.

Registration apparatus 10 used in a method according to the invention is 
shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Typically, the apparatus includes a pair of 
structurally identical rectangular plates 11 land 12, a pair of elongated 
rectangular members 13 and 14 disposed between the plates along 
longitudinally extending edges, and clamps 15-17 for holding the plates 
and elongated members together to form a rectangular sleeve. The plates 
are vertically aligned, and the elongated members are coterminous with the 
plates at one end 18 and at the other end provide a pair of recesses into 
which a stop 19 is inserted and secured. The stop 19 includes a plurality 
of ports 21-23 communicating with the space in the sleeve, the ports in 
the top and sleeve being located adjacent a common corner. The plates, the 
elongated members, and the stop are assembled in a fluid tight manner, 
such that fluid entering through the open end of the sleeve moves towards 
the common corner and exits through the ports. The stop is perpendicularly 
disposed with regard to the elongated members and, therefore, the common 
corner may be aligned with X and Y axes. The top and bottom plates are 
spaced from each other by approximately one-sixteenth of an inch, and 
sheets of paper 29 and 30, which are smaller than the length and width of 
the space in the sleeve, may be inserted therein as is indicated by the 
dotted lines. If, thereafter, a pump 31 and nozzle 32 direct fluid into 
the open end of the sleeve, the fluid flow through the sleeve will float 
the sheets into registration at the common corner. To move the sheets out 
of registration, the horizontally disposed sleeve may be tilted or a fluid 
stream may be injected into the sleeve 10 through one or more of the ports 
in the stop 19. In this embodiment, the top and bottom plates are 
manufactured from glass. Thus, sheets, such as transparencies, brought 
into registration may be read, may be photographed, may be projected, or 
may be scanned with suitable equipment. Although the length to width ratio 
shown in FIG. 1 is about 2:1, it should be noted that higher ratios may be 
used. Further, stop 19 may be designed so as to be removable to provide 
access to the registered sheets. 
The registration apparatus disclosed above may be modified or supplemented 
in a number of ways, some of which are set forth below. In describing the 
various embodiments similar reference numerals will be used to designate 
components previously described. 
Referring to FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, it may be seen that the registration 
apparatus disclosed in FIGS. 3 and 4 differs from that shown in FIG. 1 in 
that a manifold 45 is fastened with screws 46 to the elongated member 13 
and stop 19. A gasket 47 is interposed between the manifold 45 and the 
sleeve to prevent fluid leakage. The ports 25-28 in the elongated member 
and ports 21-23 in the stop communicate with a chamber 48 in the manifold, 
and the chamber in the manifold communicates with a vacuum pump 49. With 
this arrangement the flow of fluid through the sleeve may be accellerated 
to more rapidly register sheets 29 and 30 inserted through the open end of 
the sleeve. If desired, the pump 31 and nozzle 32 may be dispensed with 
and the sheets may be registered with the vacuum pump 49. Thus, it may be 
seen that sheets may be registered with a pressure pump, with a vacuum 
pump or with both. Although only two sheets have been shown in the sleeve 
a greater number of stacked sheets may be placed in the sleeve for 
transportation. Obviously, the greater the number of sheets, the greater 
the separation between the plates 11 and 12 must be to permit the injected 
fluid to move the sheets in unison and into registration. 
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, it may be seen that FIG. 5 shows apparatus 
which differs from that which is shown in FIG. 3 only in that the pump 31 
and nozzle 32 have been replaced with a pump 52, a manifold 53 coupled to 
the pump 52, and another sleeve 54 located between the manifold 54 and 
sleeve 10. Typically, sleeve 53 includes a pair of identical rectangular 
plates 55 (only one shown in view of FIG. 5), a pair of elongated 
rectangular members 56 and 57 fixed to the plate which is not shown and 
hinges 58 and 59 for pivotally holding plate 55 in contact with members 56 
and 57. The plates are vertically aligned and the elongated members 56 and 
57 are coterminous with the open ends of the sleeve. manifold 53 and 
sleeve 54 are located such that a chamber 60 is aligned with the space in 
the sleeve along one of its ends 61 and the other end 62 is aligned with 
end 18 of sleeve 10. While a gap 63 between ends 18 and 62 is not 
necessarily desirable, as more fully discussed below, it may be contended 
with. 
If plate 55 is temporarily lifted and a stack of sheets 29, 30, 50 is 
rested on the other of the rectangular plates the stack may be transported 
in unison from sleeve 54 to sleeve 10 and moved into registration by 
causing pump 49 to create a vacuum pressure in manifold 48. More 
specifically, the vacuum pressure causes air to move into sleeve 54 at end 
61 and causes air to move into sleeve 10 from sleeve 54 and from air 
surrounding the gap 63. The air flowing from sleeve 57 to sleeve 10 moves 
the sheets and the air entering through gap 63 prevents abutment of the 
end sheets of the stack with edge 18. If desired, pump 52 may be used to 
accelerate movement of the stack by causing it to provide, via manifold 
53, a jet of air into sleeve 54. However, the flow of such air should not 
be great enough to cause air to exit through gap 63 because such flow 
would tend to drive the top and bottom sheets of the stack into engagement 
with the top and bottom plates. Registered sheets may be moved from sleeve 
10 to sleeve 57 by reversing the pumps 49 and 52, care being taken to 
avoid having pump 49 delivering air at such a high level as to cause a net 
outward flow of air through gap 63. 
In essence, sleeve 54 is a loading station which may be constructed in a 
number of ways. For example, the sleeve may be a unitary structure and 
manifold 53 may be movable to allow loading through end 61. Other 
structural details and methods of, for example, loading may be devised 
within the spirit of the subject invention. Therefore, it is to be 
understood that the methods and apparatus set forth herein are not to be 
constructed or interpreted as limitations on the claims which follow and 
define the invention.