Patent GB-1361561-A (GB)
Title: Device for handling a plurality of stacked fabrik work pieces for  the like
IPC: D05B33/00
Filed: 1972-02-23
Abstract: 1361561 Feeding and delivering sheets BROTHER KOGYO KK 23 Feb 1972 [24 Feb 1971] 8405/72 Heading B8R [Also in Division Dl] Cassettes.-A cassette 29, Fig. 9, for a pile or stack of sheets such as fabric pieces comprises upper and lower openings 30, 31, the latter defined by bent-over portions of the side walls on which can be placed a removable support plate 33. A side wall 43 has an opening 42 for access. An end wall 38 has two handles 44, 40, the latter formed with a latch 41, and the wall 35 has a projection 36. A pile of sheets is placed in the cassette from above on to the plate 33. A further cassette 229, Fig. 2, is similarly constructed, and sheets W are stacked in it in succession from the top. Pile supports.-A housing 11, Figs. 3, 5, 6, 13, comprises a rear wall 15, Fig. 6, having an opening 18 from which project guide means 19, 20, 21, a front wall 14 having an upper opening 82 and a small recess, and side walls 16, 17 supporting rails 24 and 25, Fig. 5, the wall 16 also having a slit 28 and carrying supports 51, 52 for a threaded bar 50 and its drive motor 53. Engaging the bar 50 but releasable therefrom by manual lever is member 55 supporting a carrying plate 56 which passes through the opening 42 and the slit 28 in the cassette and housing so as to be below the plate 33 when the cassette is placed in the housing. When the cassette is loaded, it is placed in the housing through the opening 18 so that its projection 36 engages in the small recess in the wall 14, so that its bottom rests on the rails 24, 25, the latch 41 engages the inside of the wall 15 above the opening 18, and the slit 28 is aligned with the opening 42. Entrance is facilitated by a sloping upper edge 34a, Fig. 9, of the cassette. Receptacles.-A receptacle 211, Fig. 2, to receive sheets W is similar to the housing 11 and receives the cassette 229, and has a sloping upper edge 131. Separating sheets.-A friction separator roller 76, Figs. 3, 5 and 13, is carried on a gate member 72 pivoted on shafts 70, 71 supported on the housing walls 17, 16. In operation, the motor 53 is energized to raise the plate 56 and thus the pile against the roller 76, to force the end of the member 72 against the actuator 90 of a microswitch 83, whereupon the motor 53 is stopped and a motor 78 started to rotate the roller 76 and feed the top sheet through the opening 82, Fig. 6. When the sheet is half withdrawn, a delay circuit energizes a solenoid 101 which raises the roller clear of the pile and brings a holding member 91, Fig. 5, down on to the next sheet. Forwarding sheets.-Each sheet separated from the pile passes between curved guideplates 103, 104, Fig. 13, to feed rollers 95, 96, the former driven by the motor 78, and then falls along a guide member 105 on to a flat surface 5, Fig. 2. An arm 110 is oscillated by a motor 116, and projects upwardly through a gap in the surface, its upper end carrying a horizontal shaft 113 supporting suspending members 115, whereby the sheet is gripped and pushed to the right, Fig. 2, to a processing station such as a sewing-machine (see Division Dl). At the end of its return stroke, the arm 110 actuates a microswitch A to stop the motor 116. Delivering sheets.-A sheet fed into the processing station pushes a preceding sheet on to a guide 122 down which it slides into the receptacle 211, the carrying plate 256 of which is lowered by the threaded bar 250.