GB672938A - - Google Patents

Abstract

672,938. Feeding sheets; sheet gatherers. MoLACHLAN, W. A., and GARVEN, M. B. June 30, 1949, No. 17336/49. Class 100 (i). A sheet-collating machine comprises a rotary collector head, a set of spaced radially disposed booms pivotally connected for vertical movement to said collector head and projecting outwardly therefrom and rotating therewith, suction pick-up elements on said booms, stack tables and a piling stage in arcuate positions around said collector head, each table occupying a position below and within the range of at least one of said pick-up elements, means for allowing each boom to dip when passing over a different table so as to lift the topmost sheet from the stack, and means for raising each boom when 'passing over a different table. A rotary head 2 carrying telescopic booms 30 is driven by a motor through a shaft extending vertically through a platform 6<SP>1</SP>. Each of the booms is pivotally connected to a flange portion 16 to allow vertical movement and is provided with a follower 31<SP>1</SP> having a roller 32 engaging one of a set of concentric tracks 33 in the platform 6'. The tracks are provided with depressions 66, 66<SP>1</SP>, 66", such that as a certain boom comes opposite a table 5, 5' or 5" the boom is allowed to dip slightly to permit a suction cup 35 to pick up a single sheet from the top of a pile 52 and carry it around to a position above a piling table 6 where the sheet is released and allowed to drop between adjustable plates 60 and abutting against vertically adjustable members 63. The suction cups 35 are connected to the interior of the head 2 by radially disposed tubes 38. A stationary suction manifold 3 secured to a cover 26 supported by framework 29 is connected to a suction pump through a tube 42. The manifold comprises a pair of semi-circular plates 17 forming a chamber 19 having an arcuate air intake mouth 21 such that the cups 35 are only in communication with the suction pump when their tubes 38 are opposite the mouth 21. The circumferential position of the mouth 21 corresponds to the disposition of the tables 5, 5' and 5". Each of the tables 5, 5<SP>1</SP> and 5<SP>11</SP> comprises an inclined plate 44 having a flange 54 such that the pile 52 thereon is staggered. The plates 44 may be raised, as the piles 52 diminish, by screw jacks 45, comprising hand-wheels 48 which actuate threaded shafts 47. As shown in Fig. 1, the tables 5' and 5" are actuated by a single jack 45 by means of a cross bar 53, thus enabling the two tables to be raised simultaneously. To aid the separation of single sheets from the piles an air blast nozzle 69 is directed on the leading edge 56 of the pile while a retaining weight 67 rests on the top sheet.