Patent GB-1092139-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus for separating the layers of a stack
IPC: B65H3/22
Filed: 1965-09-14
Abstract: 1,092,139. Feeding sheets. TRIKOTFABRIKEN J. SCHIESSER A.G. Sept. 14, 1965 [Sept. 25, 1964], No. 39155/65. Heading B6B. Pieces of woven or knitted fabrics, or other like material in a stack 28 on a table 27 are separated sequentially by a roller body 20 studded with pins on its peripheral surface and adapted to be placed on the top piece and rolled thereover to peel the piece partly from the stack. The body 20 is a roller segment with pins (20<SP>1</SP>, Fig. 4), projecting at an oblique angle to the radii thereof, and is secured to a shaft 22 rotatably mounted in slide members 23, carried by guide rails 25, and gear wheels 21 on each end of the shaft engage racks 26. The slides are moved along the guide rails to the right by known means, and return to the left by a spring means, thus causing the body 20 to roll over the top piece of the stack 28. The front edge of the top piece, as shown in Fig. 2, is lifted and wrapped around the body 20 when the latter moves to the right, and a plate 6 is then moved towards the stack and rests on the stack; the body 20 now moves to the left to release the top piece so that the latter falls over the plate 6 and can then be fully separated from the stack by known means. The peripheral speed of the pins (20<SP>1</SP>) is slightly higher than the horizontal speed of the body 20, to ensure a more reliable lifting of the top piece. Air blasts from a pipe 24 carried by the slide members (23) assist the initial lifting of the top piece. The table 27 is moved upwardly in known manner as the stack is depleted. The main frame 1 carries the slide members and the racks (26), and supports at 10 two vertically reciprocable bars 9 which have guides 7 on their upper ends for guiding the plate 6 horizontally. The slide 6 is reciprocated horizontally by links 5 and arms 4, by an electromagnetic 14, 15 acting on an arm 16 to rock a shaft 3, and a return spring 17. The shaft 3 is supported on the frame 1 by arms 2 which are pivotal about the axis of a shaft 2<SP>1</SP>, and the bars 9 are connected to the shaft 3 by arms 11. The bars 9 are temporarily retained in the raised positions by stops 30 thereon engaging over spring-urged bolts 18 on the frame 1, and these bolts can be released by abutments 19 on the slide 19. In operation, when the electromagnetic 14, 15 is energized, the slide 6 is retracted to the position shown in Fig. 2, and the bars 9 are raised and latched by the bolts 18. The slide members (23) are released by the known mechanism associated with the total separation of a fabric piece, and returned in the direction A by springs, and the slides and roller segment are lowered so that the pins (20<SP>1</SP>) engage the top piece, which is lifted when the segment is rolled andmoved bodily to the right. The electromagnetic 14 is now de-energized, and the plate 6 is moved toward the stack 28 (Fig. 4), releases the bolts 18, and thus falls on to the stack before the top piece is released by the segment 20. Known apparatus then removes the top piece. To replenish the stack, the frame 1 with all the elements thereon may be pivoted about the axis of the shaft 2<SP>1</SP>. In a modification, the plate 6 is longer and can be used to remove the top piece from the stack, in which case the second piece of the stack is held down by a second plate arranged beneath the plate 6.