Patent GB-777580-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to apparatus for feeding sheets
IPC: B65H3/24
Filed: 1954-06-09
Abstract: 777,580. Feeding sheets. JACKSON, D. R. P., and MOLINS MACHINE CO., Ltd. June 3, 1955 [June 9, 1954], No.16925/54. Class 117 [Also in Groups XVI and XXIV] Sheet-separators: - Sheets are separated from the top of a pile supported by a table 1 by a feed member 40 arranged to rest on the top sheet of the pile near the rear edge thereof, and a pushing element 25 arranged to engage the upper surface of the top sheet and move it forwardly so that its rear edge passes beneath the member 40, the latter then being arranged to move. forwardly and engage the rear edge of the top sheet to push that sheet forwardly. As described, the feed member 40 has a blade-like tooth 41 (not shown) thereon which abuts the rear edge of the top sheet, and is mounted on the end of a rod 42 fixed to a rocking cross bar 43 which is pivotally mounted at both ends on swinging arms 44. The arms 44 are fixed on shafts 45 which are rocked by a cam 46 on a shaft 114, through levers 48, 49, 50. The pusher member 25 is a pad carrying needles which engage the top sheet near its forward edge. It is carried by a rod 27 fixed on a lever 28 freely mounted on a pin 29 on which is fixed a link 30 and an intermediate friction disc 31. A-spring 31a urges the lever 28, link 30 and disc 31 together so that the lever 28 rocks with the link 30 until the needles on the member 25 engage a sheet, whereupon slippage occurs, and the member 25 is then thrust forward in a horizontal direction to push the sheet a short distance forward sufficiently to clear its rear edge of the tooth 41 on the feed member 40. A tension spring urges the lever 28 downwardly towards the main frame, and an abutment is arranged above the rod 27 to limit its upward rocking movements. The link 30 is fixed to a shaft 32 which is rocked by levers 33, 34, 37 and a cam 38 on the shaft 114. Air blasts from nozzles 100 at the rear of the pile, and from a nozzle 101 at one side and near the front of the pile, assist sheet separation, and these are controlled by a piston valve 104 operated by links 107, 108 from one rock shaft 45. A calliper gate device 51 for ensuring that only one sheet at a time is separated from the pile comprises a U-shaped member 54 having a top pin 52, which is adjustable by an eccentric mounting, adapted to rest on the front edge of the pile, and a bottom member 53a which is adapted to bear against the front edge of the pile. The member 54 is pivotally mounted on a rod 55 which is urged away from the pile by a spring 56, but which is engaged by the cross bar 43 into operative position when the latter returns to starting position.- The member 53a thus keeps the top sheets of the pile in register. Pile supports; registering.-The pile support 1 is carried by a hollow post 2 which is counter-weighted against movement in the downward direction and is raised by the engagement of one end of a lever 7 in a slot in the post. The other end of the lever 7 is loosely mounted on a shaft 8, and an intermediate roller bears against a cam secured to a shaft 12 to which is secured a ratchet-wheel 13. The wheel 13 and cam are rotated intermittently by a pawl 14 on a lever 15 pivoted to an arm 16 having a strap engaging an eccentric 17 on the shaft 8 which is driven by a motor M. The motor M drives a pulley 110 which by a chain 111 drives a gear 112 meshing with a gear 113 fixed on the shaft 114 carrying the cams 38, 46 actuating the sheet-separators. A pulley 115 rotating with the gear 112 drives a belt 116 which drives an expanding pulley P (see Group XXIV) secured on a shaft 72 (not shown). A small gear 117 on the shaft 72 drives a gear 118 on the shaft 8 which carries the eccentric 17, so that adjustment of the expanding pulley P varies the speed of the shaft 8 relatively to that of the cams 38, 46 and thereby varies the speed at which the pile is fed upwardly in relation to the sheet-separating elements. The pulley P is so adjusted that over-feeding of the pile is effected, and this is corrected by a feelercontrolled apparatus. This apparatus comprises a solenoid 93 adapted to trip the pawl 14 when a switch is closed due to the raising of a detector roller 85 which rests on the pile. The table or platform 1 has guide rails which support rollers on a tray carrying the pile of sheets. A fixed platform 21, also provided with guide rails supporting a tray on which is a replacement pile of sheets, is arranged so that when the first pile is exhauted and the platform 1 lowered by a hand-wheel device, the new pile can be rolled on to the platform 1. To enable the operator to determine when a new pile has been raised sufficiently high for sheet-separation, a fixed pointer provided adjacent the calliper member 54 co-operates with a line' engraved in the member 54. The sheets of the pile are registered by side guides 61, 61a, and the upper sheets of the pile are more accurately aligned by an intermittently-operated pusher device 62 which pushes these sheets against the side guide 61a. The pusher 62 is rotatably. mounted on a pin 63 carried by an arm 64 pivoted at 65 to the guide 61 and this arm has a cam surface 66 engageable by a roller carried by one of the oscillating arms 44 of the crosshead 43. The pusher 62 has a. ledge overlying the edge of the pile. The front edges of the upper sheets of the pile. are registered by the calliper device 51 described above.