Patent GB-1255368-A (GB)
Title: Sheet conveying, stacking & discharge equipment
IPC: B65H29/18
Filed: 1969-11-20
Abstract: 1,255,368. Sheet-delivery apparatus. UNIVERSAL CORRUGATED BOX MACHINERY CORP. 20 Nov., 1969 [7 Feb., 1969], No. 56750/69. Heading B8R. Apparatus for stacking sheets, e.g. sheets of corrugated board issuing from a corrugating, slitting and transverse cutting machine, comprises a conveyer 25, Fig. 1, receiving the sheets from the machine and forwarding them to a conveyer 53 depositing the sheets in a pile on a take-off conveyer 101, the conveyer 53 being pivoted at its inlet end and moved upwardly at its output end as the pile is being formed so that the latter end is always situated just above the top of the pile. When the pile has reached a desired height, a gate 35, Fig. 5, at the inlet end of the conveyer 53 is lowered to prevent further sheets passing from the conveyer 25 to the conveyer 53, and the conveyer 101 is driven to move the pile laterally on to a table T, Fig. 1. When the sheets are produced from a longitudinally slit web, a number of side-by-side piles are formed on the take-off conveyer 101. The conveyer 25 is driven in synchronism with the corrugating machine, but at half the speed at which the sheets issue from the machine, so that the sheets overlap on the conveyer 25. The driving spindle 45, Fig. 5, of the conveyer 53, about the axis of which the conveyer is pivoted, is coupled through one-way clutches to the outlet spindle 27 of the conveyer 25 and to a constant speed motor 96, the arrangement being such that normally the conveyer 53 is driven from the conveyer 25, but if the speed of the conveyer 25 drops below that of the motor 96, the latter drives the conveyer 53 so that the conveyer speed does not drop below that corresponding to the speed of the motor 96. The outlet end of the conveyer 53 is raised gradually in accordance with the increasing height of the pile by means of a fluid-pressure motor 71, Fig. 8, the supply of pressure fluid to which is controlled by a valve controlled by photo-electric means 256, 256<SP>1</SP>, Fig. 1, sensing the passage of the sheets past the gate 35 which has been raised by a fluid-pressure motor 37. Two exhaust vents are provided for the motor 71 having restrictors therein of different sizes. Thus, two speeds of raising the conveyer 53 can be obtained according to which restrictor is in operation. Normally, the restrictor allowing the slower raising is in operation, but if the speeds of the corrugating machine and the conveyer 25 are increased, a switch is operated to bring the other restrictor into action, thus causing a faster raising of the conveyer 53. The sheets pass from the conveyer 53 over a driven roller 58, Fig. 8, mounted on the conveyer frame and are deposited to form the pile on a series of slats 143, the edges of which are just above a series of rollers 107 constituting the take-off conveyer 101. When the pile reaches the required height, switches are closed, which cause the cut-off of pressure fluid to the motor 37 so that the gate 35 drops to prevent further sheets reaching the conveyer 53. At the same time, a fluid-pressure motor 138, Fig. 8, is operated to lower the slats 143 so that the pile is deposited on the rollers 107. A piston-rod 137 of the motor 138 now closes a switch causing actuation of a motor driving the rollers 107 so that the pile is moved towards the table T. The passage of the pile past a photocell 248, Fig. 1, causes a pulse which resets all the parts of the apparatus for a further pileforming operation.  Joggers.-At the outlet end of the conveyer 53 is situated a plate 67, Fig. 8, which, in conjunction with a reciprocating plate 152, Figs. 8, 9, aligns the edges of the pile being formed. The plate 152 is reciprocated by an eccentric 166 and a connecting rod which includes a cylinder 163 and piston-rod 162. Pressure fluid normally keeps the rod 162 extended, but when the pile has been formed and before the rollers 107 are driven, the cylinder 163 is actuated to withdraw the rod 162 so that the plate 152 is moved away from the pile. The opposite side of the pile is moved away from the fixed plate 67 by lengthwise movement of the slats 143 as they move downwardly.