Collating device

Abstract: The collating device sucks up the topmost sheet of the paper stack (S) on the paper table (1) by the suction head (9) and feeds forward the sheet one after another. The paper table is being given an upward force by a spring (8). This paper table moves up to the position where the topmost sheet of the paper stack on the paper table contacts with a stopper (7). This stopper moves up during the period when the suction head feeds forward the topmost sheet. At this time, an electromagnetic brake (6) is set at the on-state and fixes the position of the paper table. The suction head, stopper, electromagnetic brake and the like rotate at the predetermined timing based on the rotation of cams (27,29,31). Thus, according to this invention it is possible not only to save the cost of the device but also to operate the device at high speed.

Description: The present invention relates to a device for feeding sheets of paper according to the preamble of claim 1 and to a collating device for feeding sets of paper sheets according to the preamble of claim 2. Such sheet-feeding devices are for example used in a printing machine, book-binding machine and the like. The sheet-feeding devices of this type are constructed so that the topmost sheet of a stack of paper on a paper table is sucked up by a suction head and then the sheet of paper sucked thereby is fed forward by getting nipped between a pair of feed rollers, for example. In this type of sheet-feeding device, the top level of the stack of paper must be maintained always at the same height by gradually raising the paper table during the feeding of paper in order to assure the sucking up of the topmost sheet from the paper stack by the suction head. For this purpose, in the ordinary sheet-feeding device generally the paper table is allowed to drive upwards and downwards by a motor, and a sensor is provided in the device to monitor the topmost level of the paper stack so that the drive of said motor is controlled by a control unit based on the output of the sensor to maintain the topmost level of the paper stack at the predetermined position. However, in case of the prior collating device having multiple paper tables, each paper table must be provided with a respective sensor, motor and the like, resulting in increase of cost for the device. To solve this problem, a known sheet-feeding device provided with a mechanism having springs biasing the paper table upwards, a stopper contacting with the topmost sheet of the paper stack as well as a latch and a ratchet claw and the like inhibiting sliding of said paper table to maintain the topmost level of the paper stack at the predetermined position has been proposed (U.S.P.4,930,763). However, the device disclosed in the prior art has a disadvantage that it can not be operated in high speed because the sliding of paper table is controlled through a ring mechanism which is not suitable for such high speed operation and because the ratchet claw can not follow such high speed operation. Another device provided with a mechanism to maintain the topmost level of the paper stack at the predetermined position by a detection bar contacting on the topmost sheet of the paper stack, a cam, an one-way clutch and the like has been also proposed as a paper feeding device without using a sensor and a motor for raising the level of the paper table (U.S.P.4,480,826). However, such device disclosed in this patent is not sufficient in effect to reduce the cost of device. While, in the book-binding operation any papers having a special quality such as coated papers, art papers and thick papers particularly with a bigger sheet sizes and weights (gsm) must be fed forward accurately a paper one after another, therefore the suction type collating device is suitable for this type of use. However, the suction type collating device used for the book-binding operation has a narrower space between the paper tables allowing to load only a limited volume of papers on one table because it is generally consisted with multi-layer paper tables. Moreover, the bigger the size of paper (gsm), the fewer the number of sheets to be loaded. Therefore, in case bigger size (gsm) of sheets is fed, because feeding is completed within a short time, an operator must add new sheets continuously to the empty table. In the prior art ordinary collating device, the device itself is programmed to stop its operation to prevent any missing page when the paper table is emptied. Therefore, even though only one table is emptied, the whole machine has to be stopped during which new sheets have to be placed on the paper table, resulting in a longer loading work than the actual operation of the device. Document US-A-3,730,516 discloses a can labeling machine wherein movement of the can controls a brake means for fixing the position of a paper table containing the labels and thereafter lifting a stopper from the topmost sheet of the label stack to release the topmost label. It is an object of the invention to provide a sheet-feeding device or a collating device for feeding sets of paper sheets, respectively, which can be operated at high speed and reduced cost. This object is achieved according to the present invention by a sheet-feeding device as defined in claim 1 and by a collating device as defined in claim 2, respectively. According to a preferred embodiment of this invention, the paper table is always given an upward force by said biasing means. And, this paper table is inhibited to move upwards by the stopper contacting with the topmost sheet of the paper stack loaded on the paper table. This stopper is controlled by the control means and allowed to move between the first position inhibiting the upward movement of said paper table and the second position separated from said sheet stack. Said control means works to inhibit the movement of the paper table by control of the electromagnetic brake and the like and at the same time to transfer said stopper to the second position to avoid the feeding forward of a sheet being disturbed by the stopper. Therefore, the topmost sheet can be smoothly fed forward by the suction head. After completion of feeding forward of the first sheet, said control means transfers said stopper to the first (lower) position and releases the electromagnetic brake. The paper table thereby is pushed upwards by said biasing means or spring till the topmost sheet (the second sheet) of the paper stack contacts with said stopper. Consequently, this action is repeated to feed forward the next sheet. Thus, the collating device according to said embodiment repeats the up and down movement of the stopper and the drive and release of the electromagnetic brake (on-off of the fixing means) every time feeding forward of sheet to maintain the topmost level of the paper stack at the predetermined position. According to the present invention, it is possible to save the device cost because the paper table is moved up by using the spring as mentioned above. The device can be operated in high speed because a link mechanism is not used for the position control of the paper table and the movement of the paper table is controlled by the electromagnetic brake. Fig.1 is a schematic diagram showing the sheet feeder of the collating device according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig.2 is a schematic diagram showing the sheet feeder of the collating device of the present embodiment; Fig.3 is a schematic diagram showing the collating device of the present embodiment; Fig.4 is a block diagram showing the control means of the embodiment shown in Fig.3; Fig.5 is a timing chart showing the operations of the stopper, electromagnetic brake and suction head; Fig.6 is a flow chart showing the sheet supplying operation; and Fig.7 is a schematic diagram showing the collating device provided with four towers. Then, the preferred embodiment of this invention will be explained in detail referring to drawings attached. The sheet feeder of the collating device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be explained first. Figs.1 and 2 are drawings showing the construction of the paper table and Fig. 3 is a drawing showing the collating device provided with this paper table. As shown in Fig.3, multiple paper tables 1 (8 tables in this drawing) are provided to the main body of the collating device. As shown in Figs.1 and 2, a table support shaft 2 is fixed to the main body of the collating device at slight angle with respect to the vertical direction in each paper table 1. To the back of each paper table 1, a support member 3 is fixed and this support member 3 engages the table support shaft 2. According to sliding of the support member 3 along the support shaft 2, the paper table 1 can slide up and down in the direction along the table support shaft 2. And, a spring 8 is provided for each paper table 1, and fixed on its one end to the main body of the collating device and on another end to the support member 3. By this spring 8, this paper table 1 is always given an upward force. A cam lever 21 extending in the vertical direction is provided so that it engages all paper tables 1. The lever 21 is also given the upward force by the spring 8 through the paper table 1. The lower end of this cam lever 21 is connected to a cam 22 through a connecting shaft 23 and the cam 22 is driven by a motor 44 so that if the motor 44 rotates and the lever 21 is pushed up to the upper position by the cam 22, each paper table 1 can move up to the upper position, resulting in the operation mode. On the other hand, if the lever 21 is pull down to the lower position, each paper table 1 simultaneously moves down, resulting in the standstill mode of sheet feeding and allowing to supply sheets to the paper tables 1. A sensor 32 detecting the topmost level of the lever 21 and a sensor 33 detecting the bottommost level of the lever 21 are provided nearby this lever 21. Each of the sensors 32, 33 has a light-emitting element and a light-detecting element. The lever 21 is provided with a member 34 which can shut the light emitted by said light-emitting element so that said light-detecting element detect the turning off of the light from said light-emitting element, when the member 34 enter into the region between said light-emitting element and said light-detecting element. A stopper 7 is provided for each paper table 1. These stoppers 7 are the rod-like members elongating in the direction of the width of the paper table 1 and are mounted on a stopper lever 26 extending in a vertical direction. Once this stopper 7 contacts with the topmost sheet of a paper stack S placed on the paper table 1, the paper table 1 is inhibited to slide up further. This stopper lever 26 is driven by the rotation of a cam 27 and can slide between the first position inhibiting the movement of the paper table 1 when contacted with the paper stack S and the second position separated from the paper stack S as shown in Fig.2. A rack 4 is fixed to the support member 3. This rack 4 is connected to an electromagnetic brake 6 through a gear member 5. The gear member 5 has two gears, one larger size gear and one smaller size gear which are fixed on the same rotation axis, and the larger size gear engages a gear on the electromagnetic brake 6 and the smaller one engages the rack 4. A controller 40 (see Fig.4) controls this electromagnetic brake 6 based on the rotation of the cam 22 and the cams 27, 29, 31 so that if the electromagnetic brake 6 is at the on-state, the movement of the paper table 1 is inhibited and if it is at the off-state, the movement of the paper table 1 is not inhibited. On the other hand, a suction head 9 is provided over each paper table 1 and can fluctuate centering around an axis 9a. This suction head 9 is connected to a suction device (not shown in drawings) and the apex of the head (pad) sucks up a sheet once negative pressure is given. Each suction head 9 engages a suction head lever 28 which moves up and down according to the rotation of a cam 29. A sheet feed roller 10 and a nip roller 11 are provided at the downstream of sheet flow from each suction head 9. In Fig.3, both sheet feed roller and nip roller are indicated only for the topmost paper table 1. The sheet feed roller 10 is fixed at the same position and rotates by a drive circuit 46 (see Fig.3). The nip roller 11 is provided so as to be able to fluctuate around an axis 11a. A pair of levers 13a and 13b is fixed to this axis 11a with an angle constituted by the levers 13a and 13b fixed. The nip roller 11 is provided at the tip of the lever 13a and a weight roller 12 is provided at the tip of the lever 13b. The weight roller 12 is heavier than the nip roller 11 and this difference of weight push the nip roller 11 on the surface of the sheet feed roller 10 giving an appropriate snapping pressure between the nip roller 11 and the sheet feed roller 10. A nip roller lever 30 extending in vertical direction is provided so that it moves up and down according to the rotation of a cam 31. The weight roller 12 provided for each paper table 1 (the weight roller only for the topmost paper table is shown in Fig.3) is supported by the lever 30. When the lever 30 is at the lowest position, the weight roller 12 is released free from the lever 30, so that the nip roller 11 is pushed on the sheet feed roller 10 by the moment of this weight roller 12 and the lever 13b and rotated by the sheet feed roller 10. On the other hand, when the lever 30 is at the highest position, the weight roller 12 is pushed up and the nip roller 11 is released from the sheet feed roller 10. The cam 22 is driven by the motor 44. The cams 27, 29 and 31 are connected each other by chains and driven by the motor 45 through these chains. The rotations of the cams 27, 29 and 31 are synchronized with each other. Fig.4 shows a drive control device of said collating device. A controller 40 is connected with eight electromagnetic brakes 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67 and 68 through an electromagnetic brake driving circuit 41. The controller 40 is also connected with the motor 44 to drive the cam lever 21 up and down through a motor drive circuit 42 and a motor 45 to drive the levers 26, 28 and 30 up and down through a motor drive circuit 43. Furthermore, the controller 40 is connected with sensors 32 and 33 to detect the topmost and bottommost levels of the cam lever 21 as well as with a sheet feed roller driving circuit 46 to drive the sheet feed roller 10. In addition, output signal from the stopper 7 can be input to the controller 40. Next, the operation of thus constructed collating device according to this embodiment will be explained. When the power switch of the device is off, the lever 21 is at the lowest level. Then, if the power switch of the device is turned to on, the device is set at the standby-stage. In the standby-stage, the lever 21 is at the lowest level, thereby the paper table 1 slides down to the lowest position. This situation allows to load the paper stack S on the paper table 1. At this time, the electromagnetic brake 6 (61 - 68) is at the off-state, and the stopper 7 is positioned at the first position (lower position). Then, if the start-button is set at the operational position, the controller 40 drives the motor 44 through the motor drive circuit 42 and moves up the lever 21. When the lever 21 is raised to the uppermost position and each paper table 1 is moved up at the position shown in Fig.1 and the upper sensor 32 detects the member 34, this output signal is input to the controller 40 and the movement of the lever 21 and the paper table 1 is stopped thereby. Then, the controller 40 drives the motor 45 through the motor drive circuit 43 and the cams 27, 29 and 31 are set at the initial stage (the cam angle is 0°). Fig.5 is a timing chart showing the relationship between the rotation angle of the cams and the operations of the stopper 7, the electromagnetic brake 6 and the suction head 9. At the initial stage, the stopper 7 is set to the second position (the upper position), the electromagnetic brake 6 is set to the on-state so that the paper table 1 is fixed, and the suction head 9 is set to the upper position. After setting all at the initial stage, the controller 40 starts to drive the motor 45 through the motor drive circuit 43. When the cams 27, 29 and 31 rotated up to about 12°, the stopper 7 moves to the first position (lower position). When the cams rotated up to about 36°, then the suction head 9 moves down. At a certain lag time after the stopper 7 and the suction head 9 completely moved down, the cam angle reaches to about 110°, then the controller 40 releases each electromagnetic brake 6 through the driving circuit 41 to the off-state. Simultaneously, the restriction of the movement of the paper table 1 by the electromagnetic brake 6 is released to the free state, then the paper table 1 moves up till the topmost sheet of paper stack S on the paper table contacts with the stopper 7 at the first position. Once the topmost sheet of the paper stack S contacts with the stopper 7, the movement of the paper table stops and consequently the electromagnetic brake 6 turns to the on-state and fix the position of the paper table 1 thereby. Then, the suction head 9 sucks up the topmost sheet of the paper stack and turns up to the position shown in Fig.2. The stopper 7 moves to the second position (upper position) and leaves from the topmost sheet of the paper stack. At the same time, the nip roller 11 moves up to contact with the sheet feed roller 10 and the apex of the sheet sucked up by the suction 9 is nipped between the nip roller 11 and the sheet feed roller 10. Then, the sheet is released to free from the suction head 9 and fed forward by rotation of the sheet feed roller 10. Then, the cam turns to 0° (the initial stage) and all steps mentioned above are repeated to feed forward the topmost sheet of the paper stack (the second sheet of paper). Thus, the device of this embodiment feeds a sheet of paper from the paper stack S loaded on the paper table 1 sheet by sheet. If a stop button is pushed, the controller 40 stops the motor 45 and drives the motor 44 to rotate, then the paper table 1 being slide down to the lowest position. Next, in case the paper table is emptied, the operation for supply of the paper stack S will be explained as follows. If a sheet of paper is fed forward continuously by utilizing an independent mode from all of each paper table, the paper stack on the one of the eight paper tables is of different page number of sheets from those on the any of the other paper tables. In the independent mode, the operation of a whole machine has to be stopped to supply additional sheets of paper when any of paper table 1 become empty. That is, the motor 44 is driven to push down the cam lever 21, then the paper stack S is loaded on the paper table 1. Thus, in case of the independent mode, the operation of a whole machine must be stopped to supply additional paper stack. However, paper sheets for eight pages can be fed forward from eight layers paper tables. As shown in Fig.3, the collating device has one tower constructed with eight layers paper tables. And, as shown in Fig.7 for example, if four towers from A to D towers are provided, sheets for eight pages can be fed from one tower, allowing to feed forward continuously for 32 pages by connecting four towers. However, if the collating device is set at the continuous mode, a paper stack can be fed forward without discontinue of operation. Particularly for paper with thicker paper or heavier unit weight (weight /area), a paper stack on the paper table 1 is consumed very quickly, but this device allows to feed forward continuously by supplying sheets of such paper to the paper table 1 from time to time without discontinue of operation if the continuous mode is used. In the continuous mode, two adjoining paper tables in one tower are paired, and a sheet is fed forward only from one of them and another leaves in the standstill state. In this case if four towers are used as shown in Fig. 7, sheets for 16 pages can be fed forward which is fewer than those in case of the independent mode, but there is an advantage that sheets can be fed forward continuously without discontinue of operation. Next, referring a flow chart shown Fig. 6, the operation of paper stack supply will be explained in detail for case of sheet feeding using this continuous mode. The topmost paper table 1 is referred to as the paper table (1), the next lower paper table 1 as the paper table (2) and so on. The bottommost paper table is referred to as the paper table (8). Two paper tables, the paper table (1) and (2) or (3) and (4) are paired. That is, the odd numbered paper table and the next lower paper table with the even numbered paper table are paired. We assume that a sheet is fed forward from each odd numbered paper table [(1), (3), (5) and (7)] and remaining paper tables having the even number [(2), (4), (6) and (8)] are all in the standstill state. A sheet sensor 47 (see Fig.4) is provided to each paper table and made arranged, if this sensor 47 detected the empty of sheet, that the signal is input to the controller 40. First, as shown in Figure 6, once the signal of this sensor 47 indicating the empty of paper (paper stack) is input to the controller 40 (step S1), the controller 40 stops the rotation of the cams 27, 29 and 31 for all paper table 1 and discontinues the sheet feeding thereby (step S2). Then, the controller 40 releases the electromagnetic brakes 6 (61 - 68) provided to all paper tables 1 to the off-state and releases the paper tables 1 to freely movable state, drives the motor 44 at the same time, rotates the cam 22 and pulls down the cam lever 21 (step S3). All paper table 1 move down thereby. Then, once the sensor 33 detected that the lever 21 moved to the lower position (step S4), the controller 40 turns the electromagnetic brake 6 provided to the paper table from which the empty of sheet was detected to the on-state and fixes the position of and restricts the upward movement of that paper table 1 (step S5). Because the motor 44 is still rotating, the lever 21 turns to move upwards after passed the lowest position. All paper tables except for paper table 1 being restricted its upward movement by the electromagnetic brake 6 start to move up, and once the cam lever 21 reached to the topmost position, the sensor 32 detects it (step S6). Following this step, the controller 40 received the detection signal from this sensor 32 starts to drive the motor 45 and reopens the sheet feeding operations by the cams 27, 29 and 31 (step S7). Because the empty paper table is still staying at the lower position, it is not involved in the sheet feeding operation but the feeding starts from the even numbered paper table of the pair. In this case, the device is provided with a flushing lump and/or an alarm connected to the sheet sensor, the operator can easily find the empty paper table and supply new sheets to the standstill paper table. Thus, once the empty of sheet was detected, the electromagnetic brakes 6 of all paper tables are released to the off-state, all paper tables are moved down by the downward movement of the cam lever 21 and the empty paper tables are fixed at the lowest position by setting the electromagnetic brake 6 to the on-state when the paper tables are still at the lowest position, other paper tables are allowed to move up and to start the feeding operation. And, for the empty paper table, another paper table of the pair is used to start the feeding during which time new sheets can be supplied to the empty paper table. All these operation are performed during one cycle of rotation of the cam 22 driven by the motor 44. Therefore, the standstill period of sheet feeding is very short and the collating device can be operated almost continuously. In this embodiment, the time lag after the electromagnetic brake 6 was released to the off-state till the paper table 1 reaches to the upper position is set at very short time and only for one cycle. This time lag was provided to avoid any interference between the stopper 7 and the suction head 9 during both are at lower position. Therefore, operation mistake can be eliminated even though the machine is operated at high speed. The off-time of the electromagnetic brake 6 can be further reduced by increasing the elasticity of the spring 8 if necessary. If operation is too slow, it can be adapted by reducing the elasticity of the spring 8. According to this embodiment, because the paper table is moved by spring, the constitution of the device is simple and the device cost can be reduced. And, because any link mechanism and the like are not used for the position control of the paper table, the device can be operated successfully even at high speed. As explained above, according to this invention because the paper table is given the upward force by spring and the movement of the paper table is controlled by the stopper and the electromagnetic brake controlled by the control means, the topmost level of the paper stack loaded on the paper table can be maintained at the predetermined position by a relatively simple structure. Therefore, according to the present invention not only the cost of device can be saved but also there is effect that the device can be operated at much higher speed compared to the ordinary devices.

Claims: A device for feeding sheets of paper from the top of a paper stack one after another, comprising a paper table (1) loaded with said paper stack (S), support means (2, 3) for supporting the paper table so as to be able to move up and down, a suction head (9) which can suck up each sheet by a sucking force, suction head moving means (9a) for moving the suction head between the lower position where the topmost sheet of the paper stack is sucked up and an upper position where the suction head is separated from said paper stack, and biasing means (8) for biasing the paper table upward, characterized by further comprising a stopper (7) which can move between a first position at which the topmost sheet of the paper stack (S) contacts with the stopper and a second position at which the stopper is separated from the paper stack, brake means (4, 5, 6) for fixing the position of the paper table (1) at the on-state and releasing the paper table to a free state at the off-state of the brake means, and control means (40) for controlling the operation of the stopper (7), the brake means (4, 5, 6), the suction head (9) and the suction head moving means (9a) to sequentially move the stopper (7) from the second position to the first position, move the suction head (9) from the upper position to the lower position, set the brake means to an off-state and back to an on-state, move the suction head (9) to the upper position and the stopper (7) to the second position during one cycle of the sheet feed operation. A collating device for feeding sets of paper sheets one after another, each set being formed by the topmost sheet of a plurality of paper stacks, comprising multiple paper tables (1) loaded with the paper stacks (S), support means (2, 3) for supporting these paper tables so as to be able to move up and down, a suction head (9) which is provided for each paper table and which can suck up each sheet by a sucking force, suction head moving means (9a) for moving said suction head between a lower position where the topmost sheet of said paper stacks is sucked up and an upper position where the suction head is separated from the paper stacks, and biasing means (8) for biasing said paper tables upwards, characterized by further comprising a stopper (7) which can move between a first position at which the topmost sheet of the paper stacks (S) contacts with the stopper and a second position at which the stopper is separated from the paper stacks, brake means (4, 5, 6) provided for each paper table for fixing the position of the paper tables (1) at the on-state and releasing the paper tables to a free state at the off-state of the brake means, a paper table lever (21) which engages each of said paper tables and which can pull down the paper tables at one time, paper table lever driving means (42, 44) for driving the paper table lever (21) between an upper feeding position and a lower standby position, and control means (40) for controlling the operation of the stopper (7), the brake means (4, 5, 6), the suction head (9), the suction head moving means (9a) and the paper table lever driving means (42, 44) to sequentially move the stopper (7) from the second position to the first position, move the suction head from the upper position to the lower position, set the brake means to an off-state and back to an on-state, move the suction head to the upper position and the stopper to the second position. The device according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the brake means comprises a rack (4) fixed to the paper table (1) and an electromagnetic brake (6) connected to the rack. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that the brake means comprises a first gear provided to the electromagnetic brake (6), a second gear engaged with the first gear, and a third gear which is smaller than the second gear and engaged with the rack (4), the second and third gears being fixed with each other coaxially. The device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by further comprising: a sheet feed roller (10); sheet feed roller driving means (46) for rotating said sheet feed roller; a nip roller (11) rotated by said sheet feed roller nipping said sheet between the sheet feed roller and the nip roller, thereby sending said sheet forwards; and nip roller moving means (12, 13b, 30, 31, 45) for moving said nip roller to the position where said nip roller rotates with said sheet feed roller or to the position where the nip roller separates from said sheet feed roller during each cycle of the sheet feed operation. The device according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized by further comprising: a sheet feed roller (10) provided for each paper table; sheet feed roller driving means (46) for rotating said sheet feed roller; a nip roller (11) which is provided for each paper table and rotated by said sheet feed roller, nipping said sheet between the sheet feed roller and the nip roller, thereby sending said sheet forwards; and nip roller moving means (12, 13b, 30, 31, 45) for moving said nip roller to the position where said nip roller rotates with said sheet freed roller or to the position where the nip roller separates from said sheet feed roller during each cycle of the sheet feed operation. The device according to claims 5 or 6, characterized in that the control means (40) locates the stopper (7) at the second position and sets the nip roller at the rotating state where the nip roller rotates with the sheet feed roller at the initial stage. The device according to any of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that the control means (40) controls the paper table lever moving down to a standby position, then moving up to a sheet feeding position, sets the fixing means which is provided for the empty paper tables to the on-state to fix the empty paper tables at nearby the lower position while the non-empty paper tables are raised. The device according to any of the claims 2 to 8, characterized by further comprising a paper table cam (22) which moves the paper table lever up and down, a stopper lever (26) which is connected with each stopper, and a stopper cam (27) which moves up and down said stopper lever (26) during each cycle of sheet feed operation. The device according to any of the claims 2 to 8, characterized in that the suction head moving means comprises a rotation shaft (9a) for the suction head, a rod for the suction head, one end of which is connected with the rotation shaft for the suction head and the other end of which is provided with the suction head, a suction head lever (28) supporting all suction heads, and a suction head cam (29) which moves said suction head lever (28) up and down during each cycle of sheet feed operation. The device according to claim 10, characterized in that said nip roller moving means comprises: a nip roller rotation shaft (11a); two nip roller rods (13a, 13b), fixed to said nip roller rotation shaft (11a) at one of their ends, one (13a) of said rods being provided with said nip roller (11) at the end opposite to the rotation shaft (11a); a weight member (12) attached to the other end of the other rod (13b) of said paired rods; a nip roller lever (30) which supports all of said weight members (12); a nip roller cam (31) which moves up and down said nip roller lever during each cycle of sheet feed operation; and further comprising a chain connecting said stopper cam, suction head cam and nip roller cam; and a motor (45) driving said chain so as to synchronize the rotations of all of said stopper cam (27), said suction head cam (29) and said nip roller cam (31).

Inventors: HONMA TOMIO C O DUPLO CORPORAT, TANAKA HIDEO C O DUPLO CORPORA, HONMA, TOMIO, C/O DUPLO CORPORATION, TANAKA, HIDEO, C/O DUPLO CORPORATION
Applicants: DUPLO CORP, DUPLO CORPORATION
Application year: 1993
Main classification: B65H1
IPC codes: B65H1, B65H3, B65H39