JPH0227254B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for feeding cards or similar paper materials one by one from a stack of cards onto a movable conveyor system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION U.S. Patent No. 30, issued September 30, 1975.
No. 3,908,983 describes a device for feeding a blank or blank card at high speed into a scoring machine, folding machine, stacking machine or other card processing machine. When the machine is in operation, a stack of cards is positioned between a guide bar and a retainer plate that hold the stack of cards in a forward and downwardly sloping manner. The card at the bottom of the card is adapted to be advanced onto an endless belt moving forward. As the belt moves, the lowest card in the card stack is pulled through the gap between the belt and the slowly rotating friction wheel to allow the cards to move one by one. The belt and friction wheels are adapted to be driven by the same motor with appropriate reduction gearing.

However, the problem with such devices is that thick guards tend to unduly slow the rate of passage of cards from the stack, requiring large gaps between cards as they are sequentially ejected from the feeder. However, thinner cards tend to pass freely through the card stack and cause the cards to tend to stack on top of each other after being ejected from the feeder. The organization of the card also affects its speed through the feeder.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a card feeding method and device of the above-mentioned type, in which the ejection speed of the cards is controlled as desired, irrespective of the thickness or texture of the cards. It is.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In essence, the present invention provides for feeding cards or similar paper material, one at a time, from a card stack forwardly from the bottom of the card stack onto a movable platform. First, the card or similar paper material is removed from the platform using the friction wheel to eject the card or similar paper material from the platform through a gap between the friction wheel and the platform. The method of feeding cards one by one from the stack includes rotating the friction wheels sequentially by preselectable arcs so as to optimally space the ejected cards from each other. It's on.

Another feature of the invention is that a friction wheel is disposed above a movable platform, and cards and similar paper materials are transferred one by one from the bottom of the card stack between said friction wheel and platform. an apparatus for feeding said cards and similar paper material one by one from said card stack adapted to be fed through a gap and ejected from said platform, said device being coupled to drive said friction wheel; a step motor connected to the step motor and sequentially controlling rotation of the friction wheel over a preselectable arc so that ejected cards are optimally spaced from each other; and a control means for controlling the card feeding device.

Still other features of the invention include a method and apparatus as described above, including a stack advancement device used to move a card stack toward a movable platform; A method and apparatus for feeding cards, wherein the device is moved sequentially, preferably intermittently, by preselectable intervals, thereby providing a substantially constant pressing force of the card stack against the platform. .

According to a further feature of the invention, an auxiliary feeding device is provided for the above-described method and apparatus, the auxiliary feeding device being moved sequentially, preferably intermittently, by preselectable intervals. It's summery.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The exemplary embodiment shown in the drawings consists of a feeding apparatus 10, as described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,893, mounted above a conveyor platform, not shown. . The feeder includes a movable feeder platform in the form of an endless belt 12, which platform has an idler wheel 1 rotatably mounted on a shaft 16.
4 and a drive wheel 18 keyed to the drive shaft 20. Both shafts 16 and 20 are journalled in a frame 22, and drive shaft 20 is suitably connected to drive means, not shown. Friction ring 24
is mounted adjacently above the drive wheel 18, and the friction wheel 24 is keyed to a drive shaft 28 which is pivotally supported in bearings of a pair of bearing rods 30 adjustably mounted to the frame 22. Belt 12 and friction wheels 24 are disposed between a pair of spaced side walls 32 (only one shown in FIG. 1) attached to frame 22.

A curved guide plate 34 mounted on a forwardly projecting support plate 36 is located above the belt 12. This guide plate 34
The upper part forms an arm 38 which slopes downwardly and rearward, i.e. towards the left in FIG. Belt 1 curves forward to bound the passageway (see Figure 2).
A tongue piece 42 is formed which projects forwardly and is spaced apart from the tongue piece 2 . The friction ring 24 is a guide plate 34
The rim 48 projects downward slightly below the lower surface of the tongue piece 42 but does not protrude rearward beyond the rear surface of the arm 38 or the arc part 40; That is, only the lower portion of the friction ring 24 is arranged so as to protrude downward from the lower end of the guide plate 34. A gap 50 is formed between the lowermost portion of rim 48 and belt 12.

The rim 48 of the friction wheel 24 is made of a material such as hard rubber coated on steel or other high coefficient of friction tungsten carbide coating.

As shown in FIG. 1, the support plate 36 that supports the guide plate 34 is attached to
It is adjustably mounted on a pair of crossbars 52 which also laterally abut the sidewalls 3 of frame 22 against the card stack.
It supports an inverted U-shaped sliding guide rod 54 in a plane parallel to 2. An adjustable retainer plate 56 spaced behind guide plate 34 is mounted on another crossbar, not shown, attached to frame 22.

As shown in FIG. 4, the drive shaft 28 of the friction wheel 24 is connected to the step motor 6 through a reduction gear 62.
Driven by 0. The step motor 60 is electrically connected to a drive means 64 which is controlled by a variable frequency oscillator 66 in a known manner. A photocoupler or photoelectric unit 67 consisting of a photoelectric element and a light emitting element mounted on the frame 22 is positioned forward of the belt 12 and friction wheel 24 in alignment with the gap 50 (FIG. 3). The photoelectric unit 67 is a pulse counting controller 68
This pulse counting control device 6 is electrically connected to
8 is also electrically connected to step motor drive means 64 for applying pulses output from variable frequency oscillator 66 to motor 60. Further, a direction control switch 69 is electrically connected to the step motor drive means 64 to rotate the friction wheel 24 in either direction, and this switch 69 also functions as a disconnect/disconnect switch. There is.

In operation of the device described above, the card stack 70
is shown in FIG. 2 between the side wall 32 and the sliding guide rod 54 (FIG. 1).
4 and the retainer plate 56,
The card stack is held tilted downward and forward, so that the lower cards in the card stack are pushed forward. Card stack 70
When the bottom or lowest card 72 moves downward, the leading edge of this card contacts the belt 12;
Arrow 74 is pulled forward by continued movement of belt 12 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
is drawn into the gap 50 in the direction of. card 72
This forward movement of the card 72 allows the trailing edge of the card 72 to fall off the lower edge of the retainer plate 56 and onto the belt 12. Gap 50 is adjustable to a spacing sufficient to allow only one card 72 to pass freely.

When the leading edge of the lowest card 72 enters the gap 50, the leading edge of the card 76 directly above this card 72 and the third card 78 are caused by the weight of the card stack and the tilt of the retainer plate 56 to cause the card 72 to is pushed forward by the frictional force generated when the card is pulled out from the card stack 70. At this time, the leading edge of the card 76 comes into contact with the friction wheel 24, which is configured to rotate at an extremely slow speed, for example, about 1:3000 compared to the speed of the belt 12. Friction ring 24
The card 76 is further forward and the leading edge is the card 72.
and is pulled to a position closer to the gap 50. The card 72 is held at a gap 5 by the belt 12.
0 and then passes photoelectric unit 67. Once the card 72 has passed through the gap 50, the leading edge of the next card 76 falls onto the belt 12 and is moved forward so that the trailing edge of the card 76 separates from the retainer plate 56 and the entire card 76 is removed from the platform. 12 so that the card 76, like the preceding card 72, passes through the gap 50 and the optoelectronic unit 67.

The rotation of the friction wheel 24 is controlled by a photoelectric unit 67. As the card passes from the feeder 10 through the photoelectric unit 67, the light is interrupted and the pulse counting controller 68 is activated. The pulse counting controller 68 can be calibrated and set to a given number of pulses, typically 1 to 9. Pulse counting control device 68
A preselected number of pulses transmitted from an oscillator 66 are applied to the motor drive means 64, causing the step motor 60 to rotate the friction wheel 24 by a predetermined arc angle so that the next card in the card stack 70 is placed in the gap. Allow it to pass 50. In other words, the step motor 60 is electrically actuated to perform an indexed rotation of one step for each pulse received from the oscillator 66, and this indexed rotation of the step motor is transmitted through the reduction gear 62 to reduce friction. The signal is transmitted to wheel 24 to rotate it a predetermined angle to control the advancement of cards from card stack 70.

For example, each pulse from the oscillator 66 causes the step motor 60 to rotate by an arc angle of 7 1/2 degrees, the reduction gear 62 provides a reduction ratio of 25:1, and the diameter of the friction ring 24 is 50.8 mm (2''). Assuming that, the surface of the friction ring 24 is approximately 0.38 mm (approximately 0.015″) per pulse.
It will move. If the surface of the friction ring 24 is adjusted by 0.76 mm (0.030″) to ensure smooth feeding of cards from the card stack 70 and to ensure that the cards are ejected at predetermined intervals from each other.
If it is desired to move the drive means 64 by a pulse counting controller 68, two pulses are sent from the oscillator 66 to the drive means 64 each time one card passes through the photoelectric unit 67.
It is set so that it is given to . the other 5
To obtain a group of cards, 1.52mm (0.060″)
movement of the friction wheel 24 is required, which requires four pulses per group of cards, so that each group (rather than individual cards) activates the photoelectric unit 67.

The exact rotational movement of friction wheel 24 is determined by the thickness and/or texture of the cards in card stack 70, and pulse counting controller 68 is preset accordingly. Correct settings for normal pulse counting controller 68, i.e. card stack 7
In order to obtain settings such that the cards are fed evenly from zero to the best predetermined interval between the cards discharged from the feeding device 10, it is necessary to conduct a trial operation. be.
By rotating the friction wheel 24 intermittently by a count of spaced pulses (i.e. groups of pulses in a spaced sequence) and by using a suitable reduction gear 62, The same control is obtained if it were possible to provide an infinitely variable drive motor for the friction wheel 24.
If it is desired to rotate the friction wheel 24 continuously, the pulse counting controller 68 is configured to provide settings that permit such continuous rotation.

The direction control switch 69 also functions as a disconnect/disconnect switch, and also functions to set the drive means 64 to rotate the step motor 60 in either the forward or reverse direction.

The term "card" is meant to include any flexible sheet material suitable for feeding by the apparatus of the present invention, regardless of relative thickness or stiffness.

In the variant embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, a stack advancing device 80 is used instead of one friction wheel 24, and the platform 12 consists of an endless movable belt. A multiple feeder platform 82 is used instead, and an auxiliary feeder 84 is used in place of retainer plate 56. A chute 86 may be located proximate the nip between advancement device 80 and platform 82, but such a chute is also useful in the previously described embodiments.

Advancement device 80 includes a frame 88 that supports a pair of parallel endless belts 90, with belts 90 extending from shaft 9.
Bearings 95 engage a pair of idler wheels 92 supported by the frame 88, the shaft 94 of which is slidable within a groove 96 in the frame 88 in close proximity to the platform 82.
is rotatably supported. At the other end of the frame 88, the belt 90 engages a pair of pulleys 98 keyed to a shaft 100, which is connected to the bolt 1
04 is supported by a pair of grooved brackets 102 which are adjustable and secured to the frame 88. Furthermore, another pair of pulleys 106 are connected to the drive shaft 10
8, the drive shaft 108 is supported on the frame 88 between shafts 94 and 100. The pulley 106 is connected to another pair of endless belts 110.
These belts 110 engage further pulleys 112 located parallel to the belt 90 and keyed to the shaft 100. As shown in FIG. 6, the drive shaft 108 is connected to the tension pulley 116 and the step motor 1 by means of a belt 114.
It is connected to 18. plates 120 and 12
2 is fixed to the frame 88 and belts 90 and 1
It supports the upper tension part of 10. A pair of adjustment screws 124 are mounted on a crossbar 126 fixed to the frame 88 and engage bosses 128 of a bearing 130 on the shaft 94. Adjusting screw 124 is free to rotate within crossbar 126 but cannot move axially within the crossbar.
Shaft 94 is driven by step motor 132, which is driven by bolt 1.
34 to the grooved bracket 13 of the frame 88.
6 is slidably fixed. 1 pair of friction wheels 1
38 is keyed to the shaft 94 and the step motor 1
It is designed to rotate by 32.

The auxiliary feeding device 84 is a drum 1 having a shaft 141.
40, the shaft 141 is supported by a frame 142 and driven by a step motor 114 attached to the frame 142. The drum 140 has a circumferential rib 1 located close to each end.
45 and supporting a pair of parallel endless strips 146 that engage a pair of idler pulleys 148 supported on a shaft 150. The shaft 150 is fixed to the frame 142.
It is slidably mounted to a pair of grooved brackets 152 for lateral adjustment. frame 1
42 is mounted for free rotation on an axis 154 which is fixed on an extension 156 of the frame parallel to the axis of the drum 140. A screw 158 mounted in the frame extension 156 is adapted to selectively engage one of the circumferentially disposed apertures 160 in the frame 142 concentric with the axis 154.

Platform 82 includes a number of parallel endless belts 160 that are stretched around an upper pulley 162 and around a lower pulley 164. The upper pulley 162 is supported on a shaft 166, the ends of which are slidable within grooves 168 in the extension 156 of the frame 88. The lower pulley 164 is the extension part 15
It is keyed to a shaft 170 supported by 6. Tension adjustment screws 17 at each end of shaft 166
2 is adapted to be adjusted by moving the end of this shaft 166 within the groove 168.

The chute 86 includes (1) an upper grooved roller 182 and a lower grooved roller 184 supported by the frame 88 and (2) an upper grooved roller 188 supported by a bracket 194 fixed to the frame 88.
and a lower grooved roller 190. 1 to adjust the gap between the strips 180 and 186.
A pair of adjusting screws 196 are connected to the shaft 198 of the roller 184.
groove 2 of the bracket 194.
It is possible to slide laterally within 00. Both ends of the adjusting screw engage with both ends of the shaft 201 or roller 190.

The compression spring 202 of each screw 196 is
98 and 201 are pushed apart from each other. In order to further adjust the gap between the bands 180 and 186, a pair of adjustment screws 203 are mounted on a further crossbar 204 fixed to the frame 88, these screws being free to rotate. , so that it cannot move axially relative to the crossbar. Each screw 203 is
It engages a boss 205 that is pivotally mounted on an arm 206 that is pivotally mounted on a pin 207 that is fixed to the frame 88 and that arm 206 is rotatable about the axis of the upper roller 182 of the band 180. The arm 206 is pivoted about the pin 207 by rotating the screw 203 to move the upper roller 182 toward and away from the upper roller 188. An endless chain 208 engages around both adjusting screws 203,
Each end of roller 182 is adapted to be uniformly adjusted.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, a large diameter sprocket 210 is keyed to the end of the shaft 170 on the underside of the platform 82 and connects the chain 2.
12 through a drive shaft 215 to a drive sprocket 214 driven by a variable speed DC motor (not shown). A further sprocket 216 is also keyed to the lower shaft 170 and is connected by a chain 218 to sprockets 220 and 222 which are keyed to the shafts of the upper rollers 182 and 188, respectively, of the chute 86. Chain 218 also engages idler sprocket 224.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the feed platform or advancement device 80 slopes downwardly in one direction with a shallow slope toward the platform 82, which also slopes downwardly in the opposite direction. The planes of these two platforms are approximately perpendicular to each other. A gap 264 is formed between the belt 160 of the feeding device 82 and the friction wheel 1 of the platform or advancing device 80.
It is formed between 38.

In operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5-8, card stack 260 is placed on advancement device 80 and brought into abutment against platform 82, and slider 262 is positioned on belts 90 and 110.
It is placed on top and abuts the rear of the card stack to keep the cards tightly together.

As shown in FIG.
The upper edge of each card near 2 (the lower card) abuts the strip 146 of the auxiliary feeder 84, pushing the card downwards or forwardly as in the previously described embodiments, so that the lowermost or forwardmost card card is adapted to be drawn into the gap 264 as shown in FIG. However, in this embodiment, the auxiliary feeding device 8
4 is a friction wheel 13 driven by a step motor 132.
8 (FIG. 5), each pulse or pulse of the auxiliary feeding device being of longer duration than the pulse of the friction wheel.
In this way, the lower cards in the stack 260 are pushed toward the gap 264, and the lowermost cards 260
6 passes freely through the gap, but the second card 268
is pulled forward and held as described above.
In this way, the auxiliary feeding device 84
This overcomes the excessive frictional resistance between the individual cards caused by the zero weight.

Advancement device 80 is pulsed by step motor 118 to force stack 260 against platform 82 with a substantially constant force such that the lowest card 266 of the stack is drawn into gap 264. It operates and presses at the same time. The friction wheel 138 is operated in a pulsating manner by a step motor 132, similar to the previously described embodiment of FIGS. 1-4.

As the lowest card 266 passes through the gap 264, the card 266 enters the chute 86 as shown in FIG. It is.

The embodiments of FIGS. 5 to 8 make it possible to perform good feeding from stacks of individual cards of great thickness and to obtain good feeding speeds which are even higher than with conventional machines. be.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the shaft 141 of the drum 140 of the auxiliary feeding device 84 is supported by a pair of brackets 230, each of which slides perpendicularly to a plate 234. A channel member 232 is slidably secured to a plate 234 by bolts 236 within a vertical groove 238 .
Plate 234 also includes extensions 156 of frame 88.
is slidably secured within a horizontal groove 242 by a bolt 240. Shaft 150 is supported by a pair of flanges 244 that are pivotally attached to shaft 141 of drum 140. Sprocket wheel 246 is flange 24
4, the ratchet or rack 2
48 is pivotally mounted about a pin 250 on the bracket 230 and engages the sprocket wheel 246, and the rack 248 has a tension spring 2 mounted on the end of the rack remote from the pin 250.
52 and is held in releasable engagement with the sprocket wheel.

The embodiments of FIGS. 9 and 10 help provide a more precise position and angle of the auxiliary feeder 84 relative to the card stack 260. frame 88
With respect to the extension 156, the feeding device 84 is
70 and 272, and the angle of the strip 146 relative to the bottom trailing edge of the card stack 260 is adjusted as indicated by arrow 2.
74 by pivoting the rack 248 in the direction of
48 from the sprocket wheel 246, the drum 140 is rotated, and the roller 150 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 27.
It moves in the direction of 6.

Step motors 118, 132 and 144 are each controlled similarly to step motor 64 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, ie, by a variable frequency oscillator.

A one-way clutch bearing is coupled to the shaft 141,
It can be done to eliminate the bumps.

The term "card" is also intended to include a number of bound sheets or other forms of booklets.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the card feeding device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of the lower portion of the card feeding device of FIG. 1 supporting a stack of cards;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a portion of the feeding device of FIG. 2 showing where cards are fed; 4 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the drive system of the friction wheels of the feeding device of FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment of a card feeding device having a card stack advancing device and an auxiliary feeding device. Figure 6 is line 6--6 of Figure 5 showing the stack advancing device supporting the card stack.
Cross-sectional view. 7 is a side view of the chain drive mechanism of the movable platform of FIG. 5; FIG. 8th
The figure is a partial side view of the nip between the movable platform and the friction wheel drive means showing individual cards being passed through. FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of yet another embodiment of the adjustment device for the auxiliary feeding device. FIG. 10 is a plan view of the adjusting device of FIG. 9; 10... Feeding device, 12, 82... Endless belt or platform, 18... Drive wheel, 20,
28, 108, 215... Drive shaft, 22... Frame, 24, 138... Friction ring, 30... Bearing rod, 34... Guide plate, 36... Support plate, 38... Arm, 40... Circular arc Part, 42...
... Tongue piece, 50,264 ... Gap, 54 ... Guide rod, 56 ... Retainer plate, 60,1
18, 132, 144...Step motor, 6
2...Reduction gear, 64...Driving means, 66...Variable frequency oscillator, 67...Photoelectric unit, 68...
...Pulse counting control device, 69...Direction control switch, 70,260...Card stack, 80...
Stack advancement device, 84...Auxiliary feeding device, 86
...Shoot, 88,142...Frame, 9
0,110...Endless belt, 98,106,11
2,162,164... Pulley, 140... Drum, 146... Endless band, 160... Endless belt, 180,186... Band, 182,184...
...Grooved roller, 202...Compression spring, 206...
... Arm, 208, 218 ... Endless chain, 2
10, 216, 220, 222... Sprocket, 214... Drive sprocket, 246... Sprocket wheel, 248... Rack or ratchet, 250... Pin, 252... Tension spring.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. Feeding cards or similar paper material, one at a time, from the bottom of the card stack toward the front, from the card stack onto a movable platform, and feeding the cards one by one onto a movable platform. The cards or similar paper material are removed one by one using the friction wheel to eject the card or similar paper material from the platform through a gap between the platform and a friction wheel located above the platform. In a method of feeding from a stack of cards, said friction wheel is moved intermittently over a preselectable arc at preselectable time intervals by a step motor having drive means electrically energized by a variable frequency oscillator. activating a pulse counting control device electrically connected to the drive means through means for sequentially driving and detecting ejection of each of the cards to pass the pulses received from the oscillator through the drive means; A card feeding method characterized in that the cards being ejected are spaced apart from each other in the best possible manner. 2. The method of claim 1 using a stack advancing device for moving said stack of cards towards said movable platform, wherein said stack advancing device is moved by a preselectable interval. A method comprising the steps of: sequentially moving the card stack to provide a substantially constant pressing force of the card stack against the movable platform. 3. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the stack advancing device is moved intermittently. 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising an auxiliary feeding device for assisting in feeding the cards one by one into the spacing between the friction ring and the platform. , a plurality of parallel movable endless strips and said strips configured and arranged such that said auxiliary feeding device abuts a bottom edge portion of said card stack remote from said friction device; a step motor connected to drive the step motor; and a control means connected to the step motor to control the advancement and operation of the step motor, the auxiliary feeding device being moved at a preselected interval. A method characterized in that the movements are performed sequentially. 5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the auxiliary feeding device is moved intermittently. 6. A rotatable friction wheel is arranged above a movable platform, and cards and similar paper materials are fed one by one from the bottom of the card stack through the space between said friction wheel and said platform. A device for feeding cards and similar paper material one by one from a stack of cards, which is adapted to be fed and discharged from the platform, the device being connected to and adapted to drive said friction wheel. a step motor connected to and intermittently driven by a drive means electrically connected to a variable frequency oscillator and receiving a preselected number of pulses; control means for sequentially controlling the rotation of the friction wheel over a preselectable arc so that the ejected cards are optimally spaced from each other; said control means being connected to said drive means; a pulse counting controller electrically connected to control the number of pulses transmitted from the variable frequency oscillator to the drive means, thereby driving the friction wheel intermittently at preselected time intervals; a photoelectric unit arranged to pass each ejected card and electrically connected to said pulse counting controller and actuated by each ejected card; A card feeding device comprising: 7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a stack advancing device for moving said stack of cards toward said movable platform, wherein said stack advancing device comprises a plurality of parallel a step motor connected to drive the belt; and a control means for controlling advancement and operation of the step motor connected to the step motor. Device. 8. The apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising an auxiliary feeding device for assisting in feeding the cards one by one between the friction ring and the platform. an auxiliary feeding device drives a plurality of parallel movable endless strips and said strips configured and arranged to abut against a bottom edge portion of said card stack remote from said friction wheel; 1. An apparatus comprising: a step motor coupled to said step motor; and control means coupled to said step motor to control advancement and operation of said step motor. 9. Claim 8, further comprising means for changing the angle of the strip relative to the bottom edge of the card stack.
Apparatus described in section.