Patent GB-949751-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to auxiliary sheet pile separating and supporting means
IPC: B65H3/32
Filed: 1962-10-01
Abstract: 949,751. Feeding sheets. MIEHLE-GOSS-DEXTER Inc. Oct. 1, 1962 [Oct. 9, 1961], No. 37021/62. Heading B6B. An auxiliary supporting device, which can be inserted between the main support for a stack of sheets and the stack so that the main support can be lowered to receive a new sheet stack, comprises a load-supporting member over which flexible tapes are arranged so that during the insertion of the member the tapes prevent the sheets from touching the member. and there is no relative movement between the tapes and the adjacent sheet during the insertion or withdrawal of the device. In Fig. 2, the device comprises a member 10 of hollow metal tubing of rectangular cross-section, freely mounted rollers 17, 18 at the front end, similar rollers 21, 22 arranged in slots towards the rear end, a flexible tape 26 passing inside the member 10 and around the rollers 17, and a second tape 34 passing inside the member and around the rollers 18, 22. The free ends of the tape 26 are supported by the top 11 of the member 10 and are secured, respectively, to plates 29, 30, and the free ends of the tape 34 pass over the bottom 12 of the member 10 and are secured, respectively, to the plates 29, 30. The plates 29, 30 slide over the member 10, and are secured together by bolts. Two forwardly-projecting inclined nose portions 42, Fig. 5, are arranged on the plate 29, one on each side of each side wall of the member 10, to facilitate the initial entry of the member 10 between selected sheets of a stack of paper, and a transverse rod 45 secured at the rear end of the member 10 is used to manipulate the device. In operation, with the slide plates 29, 30 at the front end as shown in Fig. 5, the nose portions 42 are inserted into a sheet stack to separate an upper portion 46 from a lower portion 47 (or to lift the remaining portion 46 from a main table support). The operator then grasps the handle rod 45 and pushes the member 10 between the sheets so that it moves relatively to the plates 29, 30, which are retained by the edge of the stack. As the member 10 moves inwardly, the tapes 26, 34 will, in effect, unroll and have no movement relative to the adjacent sheets. When several of the members 10 have been fully inserted, auxiliary pile raising means can engage the projecting ends of the members and raise the pile 46 intermittently towards a sheet-separating mechanism; the member 10 is not thick, and can be inserted and subsequently raised without interfering with the continuous operation of the sheetseparating mechanism. The tapes 26, 34 could be replaced by endless belts, and the clamp plates 29, 30 eliminated. The tapes can be made of metal, rubber, fabric, or synthetic resin, with an outer surface of a high coefficient of friction, and the inner surface, or the member 10, may be lubricated. In the modification shown in Fig. 7, the base member 52 has uninterrupted top and bottom walls 50, 51, and a nose-piece 53 removably attached thereto have curved portions 54, 55 which guide the tapes 56, 57 respectively. The tapes are loosely disposed within the member 52, and their outer ends have tabs 63, 64 which will engage the edge of a stack, in the same manner as the clamps 29, 30 of the device shown in Fig. 2, so that the tapes are progressively withdrawn from within the base member 52. Instead of two tapes, a single tape can be employed in the device shown in Fig. 2, wherein the clamp 30 and rollers 21, 22 are omitted; the tape extends from the clamp 29 over the top 11 of the member 10, around the roller 17 to the inside of the member 10, then around a floating roller arranged inside the member 10, back to the roller 18, and then along the bottom 12 to the clamp 29. The floating roller has its axle attached to the rod 45 by extension springs. several separator devices can be rigidly connected together to form a pallet, and mechanical means may be employed to position and actuate the pallet.