Patent ID: 7077394

Claim:
Apparatus for displacing at least some perforated components of stacks, wherein the perforations of the components define rows of at least partially registering holes in the stack, preparatory to joining of the sheets by a connector including a plurality of sections having shapes departing from straight and each arranged to enter a discrete hole of the stack, comprising: shifting means disposed at a treating station and including at least one shifting implement having at least one elongated member; means for positioning stacks at said station with freedom of sliding movement of at least some of the components of the stack at said station relative to each other; and means for inserting the elongated member of the at least one shifting implement into a selected hole of the stack at said station and for thereupon withdrawing the elongated member from the selected hole, including means for changing the orientation of the at least one shifting implement during withdrawal from the selected hole to thus displace said at least some components of the stack in such a way that the selected hole has a configuration at least approximating the shapes of sections of the connector.