GB2038783A

GB2038783A - Apparatus for dispensing flat articles, such as sheets of cardboard

Info

Publication number: GB2038783A
Application number: GB7943315A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1978-12-27
Filing date: 1979-12-17
Publication date: 1980-07-30
Also published as: DE2856295A1; SE7910494L

Abstract

A dispenser which is suitable for relatively thick and thus heavy sheets of cardboard such as are used for the manufacture of letter-files or the like, has at least one vertical contact bar (17) arranged within the inside cross section of the stack holder (2) to relieve the load on the separating fingers (12) arranged at the bottom end of the stack G, and thus considerably increase the capacity of the stack holder. As shown, the articles G are held in a slanting position and only drop down onto the fingers (12) when they pass below the lower edges (23) of the contact bars (17). Suction cups (15) are operated in conjunction with the fingers (12) by a cam (27) to withdraw the articles, one at a time. Conveyor bands (22) remove the dispensed articles. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Apparatus for dispensing flat articles, such as sheets of cardboard The invention relates to a dispenser for dispensing flat articles, such as cardboard.

It is known to equip dispensers for flat articles with a stack holder which is designed such that the bottommost article in the stack, such as a sheet of cardboard, is drawn from the stack and fed to a processing machine by means of suction devices or the like. In order to separate the sheets of cardboard in this manner, one or a plurality of so-called "separating fingers" are provided at the bottom end of the stack and engage between the two bottommost sheets.

However, if the articles to be fed are relatively heavy, as in the case of, for example, cardboard sheets for letter-files, only a relatively small number of sheets can be placed in the stack, since, otherwise, the great weight of the stack leads to trouble when separating the cardboard sheets. This in turn means that the stack has to be replenished at very short intervals of time and thus demands the full attention of an operator who normally could undertake other operations on the machine.

Therefore, as has been described in, for example, published German Patent specification (Offenlegungsschrift) No.20 15 941, it has already become the practice to feed the articles to the dispenser from below by means of paternoster-like conveyors, the uppermost article of the stack located in the paternoster being removed in each case. The weight of the articles is then of virtually no significance, although the additional technical expenditure is relatively high, since the control device necessary for the additional conveyors are required in addition to the conveyors themselves.

Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a dispenser which, in principle, is of the same simple construction as the first-mentioned apparatus having an overhead stack, but which, without any appreciable increased technical expense, has an adequate stack capacity even when it is charged with thick and heavy sheets of cardboard or the like, so that it is only necessary to replenish the stack at adequately long intervals of time.

The present invention provides apparatus for dispensing flat articles, such as sheets of cardboard or the like, for machines for processing such articles, comprising a vertical stack holder which serves to receive a supply of articles, at least one separating finger arranged in the region of the bottom end of the stack holder, and a suction device associated with the separating finger or fingers, the stack holder including at least one substantially vertical contact bar arranged within the inside cross section of the stack holder and mounted above the separating finger or separating fingers with the lower end of the contact bar or bars at a selectable distance above the separating finger or fingers.

Thus, by far the larger portion of the stacked articles abuts against the contact bar or contact bars and thus does not load the separating fingers. Only a few articles rest on the separating fingers, so that the separating and removal operation can take place without any faults occurring. This also results in the fact that even very large stacks can be formed and only have to be replenished at long intervals of time.

The dispenser can be made adjustable to enable it to be adapted in a very simple manner to different thicknesses and sizes of articles to be fed, so that the dispenser can be used in a very versatile manner.

The invention is further described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, taken in the plane I-I of Figure 2, of a dispenser in accordance with the present invention, and Figure 2 is a cross section taken in the plane ll-ll of Figure 1.

The dispenser illustrated comprises a machine frame 1, a stack holder 2 or magazine mounted thereon, and a control mechanism 4.

The stack holder 2 includes two vertical L-section bars 5 secured to the machine frame 1 by means of a carrier rod 6. Furthermore, a plurality of support rollers 8 is arranged on the carrier rod 6 which is displaceable in the machine frame by means of a hand wheel 7, the stack being supported at one side on the support rollers. A shaft 9 having further support rollers 10 is journalled in the frame 1 parallel to the said rod.

A vertically oriented transverse plate 11, again arranged parallel to the carrier rod 6, is secured to the frame 1 and, together with the two L-section bars 5, forms the actual guide for the stacked articles G.

A plurality of separating fingers 12 is disposed in the region of the bottom edge of the transverse plate 11. The separating fingers 12 are each pivotally mounted on the transverse plate by means of respective bell-crank levers 13 which are interconnected by a common shaft 24. The shaft 24 is driven in synchronism with the machine by means of a crank drive 14 by way of a lever 25, the crank drive in turn being driven by the main shaft of the machine by way of a lever 26 and a cam 27. A plurality of suction devices 15 is pivotally and displaceably mounted in the frame, the suction devices 15 being driven simultaneously with the separating fingers 12 and being connected to a vacuum line 29.

Furthermore, three vertical contact bars 16, 17, 18 are secured to the transverse plate 11 such that they are located within the rectangular cross section formed by the L-section bars 5 and the inner wall of the transverse plate 11. Whilst the central contact bar 17 is only vertically displaceable, the two outer bars 16 and 17 are adjustable both horizontally and vertically by means of respective sliding carriages 19.

Two rollers 20 and 21 arejournalled below the transverse plate 11 in order to carry away the articles removed from the stack, a plurality of conveyor bands being guided around the lower of these two rollers.

The mode of operation of this apparatus is as follows: The articles to be dispensed are introduced into the stack holder 2 from above. A small number of articles then drops until its rests at one side on the support rollers 8 and at the other side on the separating fingers 12 at the bottom portion 3 of the stack holder 2. However, as soon as the distance between the edges of the articles abutting against the L-section bars 5 and the oppositely located bottom edges 23 of the contact bars 16 to 18becomes smaller than the length of the articles themselves, the articles accumulate in a sloping position in the region of the bottom edges 23, as is shown in Figure 1 of the drawings.

The stack holder can then be filled up to the top edge of the L-section bars, without the number of articles resting on the separating fingers being in excess of the number determinable by the vertical adjustment of the contact bars 16 to 18. The articles at the top portion of the stack holder then automatically slide downwardly to the extent to which the articles located in the bottom portion 3 of the stack holder are removed.

The bottommost article is separated from the one above by co-operation of the separating fingers 12 with the associated suction device 15. The article thus separated is placed on to the support rollers 10 in the first instance and is then conveyed away by the conveyor rollers 20, 21 and the conveyor bands 22.

Claims

1. Apparatus for dispensing flat articles, such as sheets of cardboard or the like, for machines for processing such articles, comprising a vertical stack holder which serves to receive a supply of articles, at least one separating finger arranged in the region of the bottom end of the stack holder, and a suction device associated with the separating finger or fingers, the stack holder including at least one substantially vertical contact bar arranged within the inside cross section of the stack holder, and mounted above the separating finger or separating fingers with the lower end of the contact bar or bars at a selectable distance above the separating finger or fingers.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the contact bar or bars is or are arranged so as to be vertically adjustable relative to the separating finger or fingers.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which vertically and transversely displaceable contact bars are provided at each side of a central contact bar.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, in which the stack holder comprises a vertically arranged transverse plate mounted on a machine frame and two vertical L-section bars which are arranged opposite to the transverse plate and which are in turn secured to the machine frame so as to be commonly and transversely displaceable.

5. Apparatus for dispensing flat articles, constructed and adapted to operate substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the drawings.