Patent Publication Number: US-7722028-B2

Title: Feeder separation technology

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS, IF ANY 
   The present application is a formalization of previously filed, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/704,929, filed Aug. 2, 2005 by the inventor named in the present application. This patent application claims the benefit of the filing date of the cited Provisional Patent Application according to the statute and rules governing provisional patent applications, particularly 35 USC s. 119(e)(1) and 37 CFR s. 1.78(a)(4) and (a)(5). The Specification and Drawings of the cited Provisional Patent Application are specifically incorporated herein by reference. 

   37 C.F.R. §1.71(e) AUTHORIZATION 
   A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the US Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
   Statement Regarding Federally Sponsored Research or Development 
   Not applicable. 
   Reference to a Microfiche Appendix, If Any 
   Not applicable. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates, generally, to automated materials handling machinery. Particularly, the invention relates to automated machinery for feeding material into a related machine or system. Most particularly, the invention relates to friction feeder machinery. 
   2. Background Information 
   Bottom Friction Feeders are used throughout the graphics, mailing and packaging industries. They are used to feed product from a stack. Bottom Friction Feeder technology is utilized by a number of companies. 
   The existing technology includes that disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,967,507, 5,476,255 and 5,255,905. These patents relate to top sheet feeders. 
   A need exists for the present invention. 
   All US patents and patent applications, and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Bottom Friction Feeder technology typically utilizes a separation gate system with height adjustment that allows for one product to be fed between the Gate Assembly and the feed belts. Reliably feeding various products on a bottom friction feeder requires that the friction between the feed belts and the bottom product must be greater than between the bottom product and the stack above it. It also requires the separation gate device to overcome the friction between two products to reliably retain the stack of product while a single product is fed. Typical separation gates incorporate some type of high friction (for example, urethane) retaining rings that assist in separation of product. This traditional method is useful for certain types of products, but many products cannot feed consistently. This is due to two main reasons; the first is a high coefficient of friction between two products and the second is a stability of the product (i.e., thin or flexible product) being fed. 
   The separation gate design of the present invention overcomes the limitations of bottom friction feeders. It has two adjustable assemblies. The first is an adjustable guide that forms the bottom product into a corrugated shape that both stiffens flexible product and reduces the surface tension between two products. The second assembly is a urethane ring(s) or friction wheel that adjusts to assist in retaining product. The result of this is a Bottom Friction Feeder that can handle a wider range of product that is more reliable. 
   One aspect of the invention provides a bottom friction feeder comprising a material magazine assembly, a gate assembly including a guide subassembly portion and a singulation gate subassembly portion, a back wedge assembly, and a bottom friction belt assembly. 
   Another aspect of the invention provides a gate assembly for a bottom friction feeder comprising a guide assembly and a singulation gate assembly. 
   The features, benefits and objects of the invention will become clear to those skilled in the aft by reference to the following description, claims and drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the feeder system of the present invention, including an embodiment of a frame, carriage and gates. 
       FIG. 2  is a side view of the feeder system. 
       FIG. 3  is a top or plan view of the carriage and gate assemblies of the feeder system. 
       FIG. 4  is a top perspective view of embodiments of guide and singulation portions of the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a bottom perspective view of the embodiment of the guide and singulation portions shown in  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 6  is an exploded view of embodiments of certain components of the guide and singulation assembly. 
       FIG. 7  an exploded view of the guide and singulation assemblies. 
       FIG. 8  is a front view of the guide, singulation, and belt assemblies of the present invention. 
       FIG. 9  is a front perspective view of an alternative embodiment of guide and singulation assemblies of the invention. 
       FIG. 10  is back, opposite side perspective view of the assemblies of  FIG. 9 . 
       FIG. 11  is a front view of the assemblies. 
       FIG. 12  is a back view of the assemblies. 
       FIG. 13  is a side view of the assemblies, the opposite side being substantially similar thereto. 
       FIG. 14  is a top or plan view of the assemblies. 
       FIG. 15  is a bottom view of the assemblies. 
       FIG. 16  is a perspective view of the back wedge. 
       FIG. 17  is a side view of the back wedge. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   The preferred embodiment of the bottom feeder system of the present invention comprises several major assemblies, namely a material magazine assembly, a gate assembly, a back wedge assembly and a bottom friction belt assembly. The items to be fed may be labels, package inserts, product instructions, or other thin, generally flat items of paper or polymer. For sake of simplicity, the products being fed will be referred to herein as labels, keeping in mind the other types of items that may be used. The present invention is a component of a larger packaging system that is known in the art. Thus, the description will focus on the label feeder section, assuming those skilled in the art will understand the use and application of such a feeder in a larger system. 
     FIG. 1  illustrates a feeder  5  of the present invention as it might appear prior to integration into a larger system. Side frames  10  are connected to a product table  12  to form a rigid structure. A series of driven belts  14 , preferably made of a high friction material; extend outward from the product table  12  and below the product table  12 . The belts  14  are supported from side rails  28 A-B (see  FIG. 3 ). 
   The side rails  28 A-B also support a drive  15  for the belts  14 . Extending upward from the frame  10  is a product magazine  16 . The product magazine  16  has extending vertical rails  18 A-B which are adjustable to accommodate various sizes of products to be fed by the feeder  5 . The product to be fed, labels in the present example, are stacked in a vertical array between the side rails  18 A-B. A gate assembly  20 , attached to a cross member  22  which is in turn attached to the side frames  10 , then feeds labels one at a time from the bottom of the stack of labels in the product magazine  16 . 
   In  FIG. 2 , one of the side frames  10  has been removed as has one of the vertical rails  18 A. The drive  15  for the belts  14  is more visible in the figure. In addition, a movable back wedge assembly  26  is visible. The back wedge assembly elevates the back edge of a stack of labels in the product magazine  16  and helps control the movement of the labels in the product magazine  16 .  FIG. 2  also shows more clearly the gate assembly  20 . 
     FIG. 3  shows a top view of the gate assembly  20  and the drive  15  removed from the overall feeder  5 . This shows that in this embodiment there are four feed belts  14 A-D. The drive belts  14 A-D are mounted to the side rails  28 A-B, as is the drive  15 . In normal use, the side rails  28 A-B would be secured to the feeder  5 , generally to the side frames  10 . 
     FIGS. 4 and 5  illustrate the two major sections of the gate assembly  20  and its construction. An L shaped bracket  30  supports two linear bearings  32 A-B and a jack screw  34 . A knob  36  of the jack screw  34  allows vertical movement of a support plate  38  to which the jack screw  34  is attached. In operation, the bracket  30  would normally be fixed in place to the cross member  22 . Attached to the support plate  38  are side plates  40 A-B. Movement of the jack screw  34  will raise or lower the support plate  38  and side plates  40 A-B. Attached to the side plates  40 A-B are adjustment arms  42 A-B. The adjustment arms  42 A-B are in turn connected to a bearing plate  44 . The bearing plate  44  is connected by linear bearings  46 A-B and a second jack screw  48  to an adjustment plate  50 . As best seen in  FIG. 5 , the lower portion of the adjustment plate  50  has grooves  52  and lands  54  formed therein. The grooves  52  are positioned to clear two friction feed wheels  56 A-B and the lands  54  are positioned to contact flat portions (see  FIG. 6 ) of deflector wheels  56 A-C. The wheels  56 A-B and  58 A-C are carried on a common shaft (see  FIG. 6 ). An adjustment knob  60  mounted on the adjustment arms  42 A-B allows the position of the deflection wheels  58 A-C to be adjusted. The jack screw  48  allows vertical adjustment of the adjustment plate  50  relative to the bearing plate  44 . 
   The exploded view of  FIG. 6  shows a shaft  62  upon which the wheels  56 A-B and  58 A-C are mounted. Neither set of wheels actually rotates on the shaft  62 , but performs in a manner to be explained. The shaft  62  is then mounted on the adjustment arms  42 A-B. For the sake of clarity, some components such as nuts, bolts, pins and washers have been omitted from  FIG. 6 . The adjustment arms  42 A-B carrying the wheels  56 A-B and  58 A-C are then attached to the bearing plate  44  and adjustment plate  50 . Finally, as seen in  FIG. 7 , this subassembly is connected to slots  64  in the side plates  40 A-B. Note in  FIG. 6  that the adjustment arms  42 A-B have angled slots  66  formed in their surface facing the bearing plate  44  and sized to fit onto the bearing plate  44 . Only one slot  66  in the arm  42 B is visible in  FIG. 6  but there is a corresponding slot  66  in the arm  42 B. The deflector wheels  58 A-C all have flats  68 A-C formed on their top surface. The flats  68 A-C cooperate with and contact the lands  54  formed on the adjustment plate  50 . It can now be seen that assembling the two subassemblies shown in  FIG. 7  will result in the gate assembly  20  shown in  FIG. 4 . 
   In  FIG. 8 . the overall operation of the gate  20  can be seen. The friction feed wheels  56 A-B capture a label  70  from the product magazine  16 . The label  70  is trapped between the friction wheels  56 A-B and the moving belts  14 A-D. The belts  14 A-D propel the label  70  away from the product magazine  16  for further processing. The friction wheels  56 A-B do not rotate but simply act as hold down elements. The deflector wheels  58 A-C then act on the label  70  to form grooves or corrugations  72  in the label  70 . The friction feed wheels  56  with the belts  14  define a singulation portion and the deflector wheels  58  act with the belts  14  and adjustment plate  50  to define a guide or stabilization portion of the overall gate assembly  20 . 
   Forming a series of corrugations  72  into the label  70  achieves a number of desirable results. The label  70  itself is strengthened. The surface tension between the bottom two labels in the product magazine  16  is reduced, leading to more certain feeding of one label at a time. The corrugations  72  also increase the surface area contact between the label  70  being fed and the belts  14 , leading to better feeding. It should be clear from the structure described that the label  70  can be fed with no corrugation if desired or the level of corrugation can be adjusted to a greater or lesser depth. 
     FIGS. 9-15  show an alternative embodiment of the gate assembly  120 . The assembly  120  comprises a wave guide plate  130 , wave inserts or guides  121 A-C (aligned with belts), shaft meeting plate  122 , guide shafts  123 , adjustment knob assembly  134 , lower mount plate  138 , bearings  132 , side plates  140 , gate side plates  142 , main shaft  162 , gate wheels  156 A and B, advancing roller shaft  124 , advancing rollers  125 A and B, and an advancing cam shaft  126  and an advancing plate  127 . 
   The inserts  121  have a predetermined configuration which provides a slightly different lead in that that of the prior gate assembly  20  embodiment for easier, greater and more precise adjustability. Gate wheels  156  also have a predetermined configuration. The gate wheels  156  may be stationary (preferred for thin material) or free rotating (preferred for thick material). Gate wheels  156  may be easily swapped for processing different materials. 
   The descriptions above and the accompanying materials should be interpreted in the illustrative and not the limited sense. While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferred embodiment or embodiments thereof, it should be understood that there may be other embodiments which fall within the scope of the invention.