GB686913A - Improvements in or relating to sheet feeding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

686,913. Feeding sheets. POWERS-SAMAS ACCOUNTING MACHINES, Ltd. April 6, 1951 [May 17, 1950], No. 12379/50. Class 100 (i). Sheets of paper, such as cheques, are separated from a pile 1, Fig. 1, by oscillating suckers 3 which deflect the leading edge of the bottom sheet to a position at which it is gripped by a gripper device 12, 13, Fig. 5, on a carriage 7 which is reciprocated along slides 8 to position the leading edge of the sheet against stops 18. The sheet is then fed transversely by feed rollers 22, 23 towards a vertically reciprocating stop S, in which position it is scanned or sensed by known means associated with a sorting-machine. Pile supports; sheet-separators.-Sheets, such as used cheques &c. of assorted sizes, which have been jogged by a separate apparatus or by means incorporated in the magazine pile 1 as described below, rest on a support having an opening 2 at the front so that the leading edge of the bottom sheet can be deflected by a pair of suckers 3 secured to a hollow spindle 4. The spindle and suckers are rocked, against the action of a spring, by the engagement of a projection 39 on the carriage 7 with a plate 42 secured to one of the suckers. A valve 45, 46 (not shown), arranged between the hollow spindle 4 and a pipe leading to a suction pump, is then actuated by a cam on a driving shaft 11 and levers 47, 48, 49, 50 to cut off suction to the suckers 3. The valve members 45, 46 are mounted on the spindle 4, the member 45 being secured to the spindle and the member 46 being rotatable on the spindle. When the member 46 is rocked by the levers 47-50 there is no communication between the suction pipe and the spindle 4, and the end of the spindle is opened to atmosphere. Prior to placing the sheets in the magazine 1, the small bundles thereof are placed on edge in a vibrator device comprising side frames 55, 56 between which are supported vertical plates 57. The sheets rest on distance pieces 59, and are jogged by blocks 67 secured to a carriage 60 which is vibrated rapidly by links 63, 65, '66 actuated by an electric motor, so that the lower edges of the assorted sheets are brought into alignment. In a modification, the magazine may be provided with an oscillatory grid which tends to align the edges of the sheets against one side of the magazine. The sheets may be separated from the top of a pile which is supported between two plates, the lower one being urged upwardly by a spring. Sheet - carriers; gripper mechanism. - The gripper carriage 7 is reciprocated along fixed guides 8 by crank mechanism 9, 10 driven from the driving shaft 11. The gripper mechanism comprises a movable member 13, secured to a rotatable spindle 14, Fig. 5, and a fibre &c. block 12 fixed in the carriage. A snail cam latch member 15 secured to the spindle 14 cooperates with a spring-urged latch 16 pivoted at 17 to the carriage 7 to hold the gripper 13 in the open position; in the sheet-engaging position of the carriage, subsequent to the oscillation of the suckers 3 by the carriage, the latch 16 is engaged by a fixed abutment 43 on one of the rails 8 whereby the gripper 13 is released to clamp the deflected edge of the sheet against the block 12. The suckers release the sheet, and the carriage 7 is moved to the right to withdraw the sheet entirely from the magazine 1 to position the leading edge against fixed stops 18, whereupon a roller 19 on an arm 20 secured to the spindle 14 is engaged by a fixed cam 21 to open the gripper 13 which is then retained by the latch 16. A presser member 34, operated from a cam on the shaft 11 through levers 37, 38, holds the sheet against the stops 18 when the gripper 13 is opened. The sheet is now fed transversely by feed rollers 22, 23 into engagement with a stop S, associated with sensing or scanning means (not described), which is movable in timed relationship with the carriage 7. The lower rollers 22 are driven continuously by gearing 24-28, and the upper rollers 23 are supported in arms which are rocked from a cam on the shaft 11 to press the sheet on to the rollers 22 for feeding.