US2255084A - Sheet-spacing machine - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 9, 1941. c. F. ,PFLANZE SHEET-SPACING MACHINE Filed July 6, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet l WM Q .0 U m J- hm k & w Q o 0 o "mu Nhmu n 3% b H a 0 a R M: I a o 0 \& MW. 0 am INVENTOR. CHARLES E PFLANZ'E ATTORNEY.

Sept. 9, 1941. c. F. PFLANZE 2,255,084

SHEET-SPACING MACHINE INVENTOR. CHARLES F. PFLANZE ATTORNEY.

Filed July 6, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR CHARLES F. PFLANZE 3 ATTORVEY.

P 1941- c. F. PFLANZE 2,255,084

SHEET- SPACING MACHINE Filed July 6, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 VQJV FIG 11 INVENTOR. CHARLES E PF LANZE ATTORNEY.

Sept. 9, 1941. c. F. PFLANZE SHEET-SPACING MACHINE Filed July 6, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. CHARLES F. PFLANZE ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 9, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHEET-SPACING MACHINE Charles F. Pflanze, University City, Mo.

Application July 6, 1940, Serial No. 344,191

6 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in sheet-spacing machines of the type used for separating stacked or piled sheets or blanks and forwarding them in a regularly predetermined, overlapped, spaced relationship for printing, glueing, stamping, or the like. specifically, this invention comprises a simplified form of rotary sheet-spacing mechanism, in which a pile of sheets are removably supported in a holder and whereby the forward end of the lowermost sheet is adapted to be seized upon its underside by means of an oscillatory suction arm and lowered into the bights formed by a pair of upper, laterally spaced roller segments with a lower, single, elongated roller. The machine desirably includes a pair of intermediate, rotary, separator disks and reciprocatory stop pins serving to separate and retain the successive upper sheets until seized by the suction arm. The sheets, upon being brought down into the bight of the upper roller segments and the lower roller, are by means of the rotary frictional contact therebetween forced forwardly onto spacing and conveyor belts, which tend to advance the overlapped sheets away from the rollers. A forwardly extended spacing arm, having an aligned, adjustably depended surface guide strip, is pivotally mounted upon the upper rear portion of the machine and is spring set so as to be normally forced downwardly upon one of the aforementioned belts. A roller is adjustably depended from the spacing arm freely astride the depended guide strip so as to be rotated by the central spacing -belt. As the sheets are moved forwardly onto the belts, being guided thereon by the guide strip, they pass beneath the before-mentioned rollers whereby the sheets are spaced in a regular, overlapped relationship thereto, this spacing, or calibration, being retained by means of additional conveyor belts coming into contact with the surface of the sheets. The spacing of the sheets is governed by the speed of the aforementioned belts.

In general, this invention has for its object to eliminate the objectionable Geneva or reciprocatory type of intermittent movement as commonly employed in this type of machine, and to substitute therefor a true rotary motion for feeding the blanks into the spacing device, thereby reducing the wear and vibration of the various parts of the machine. This, quite naturally, increases the efllciency of the machine and speeds up production, and assures a higher degree of accuracy of the machine at a materially increased speed of operation.

More

Another feature of this invention is to provide a constant driving system for the spacing and conveyor belts wherein all the belts are caused to travel at thesame constant rate of speed, which may be relatively increased or decreased as may be desired in spacing in fanned out position the envelope blanks, and in which is employed a pair of external gears which may be easily and rapidly changed so as to increase or decrease the belt speed, thereby increasing or decreasing the spacing of the blanks to cause a greater or lesser amount of exposed surface.

It is an important object of the invention to provide an apparatus for arranging and advancing sheets in fanned out relation which comprises, in combination, a support for a stack of sheets, roller mechanism comprising opposed rotary members for intermittently gripping sheets between them to advance the sheets step by step, means for periodically placing the leading margins of the sheets from the stack one after another in the space between the rotary members, subsequently acting mechanism for engaging and advancing each sheet only after it has been advanced through a plurality of steps by the roller mechanism, and means for holding stationary, during the periods when the rotary members are not in sheet gripping relation to one another, the partially advanced sheets between the rotary members which have become disengaged from the stack and which would otherwise be uncontrolled in such periods.

With the foregoing and such other objects in view as will later appear in the specification, reference will be had to th accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fi 1 is a side view of the machine as viewed from the operator's position, this being the side of the machine on which the operator positions himself, and as here shown the successive machines and connecting belts have been removed.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the machine as viewed from the opposite side of Fig. l, a motor drive being here shown.

, Fig. 3 is a partial vertical sectional view of the machine as viewed in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a partial angular, top view, partly in section, of the head of the machine, showing the feeding mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a partial top view, partly in section, of the head of the machine, showing the spacing mechanism.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, vertical, medial, sectional view through the upper part of the machine as viewed from the side.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, perspective view of the fixed type of segmental roller as shown on the machine.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged, partial longitudinal, sectional view of the spacing device.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of a form of suction device adapted simultaneously to hold in place a series of envelope blanks.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged, perspective view, of an adjustable type segmental roller.

Fig. 11 is enlarged, transverse, sectional view of the ratchet blank holder, the outer end of the oscillatory suction arm being shown therebelow.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of the reciprocatory stop pin cam and arm that operates in synchronization with the separator disks.

Fig. 13 is an enlarged, partial rear view of the suction arm, actuating cam, and follower mechanism.

Fig. 14 is a side view of Fig. 13.

Fig. 15 is an enlarged, sectional view of an alternative form of mechanical device for holding in place a series of envelope blanks.

Fig. 16 is a perspective view of the mechanical sheet-holding device.

Fig. 1'7 is an enlarged top plan view, showing the mechanical device for contacting the envelope blanks when the forwarding mechanism is ineffective, and thereby preventing any displacement of the blanks that have not been advanced sufficiently to pass beneath the calibrating roller.

As here shown, the machine comprises, in general, a pair of base or mounting frames A and a head frame B. A power shaft I8 is transversely joumaled through the rear, vertical portion IQ of the base frames near the bottom thereof and, as here shown, is connected to a motor drive 20 by means of a belt 2l whereby the power shaft is supplied with motive power. A sprocket gear 22 (Fig. 3), rigidly mounted upon the power shaft, is connected by a sprocket chain 23 to a similar sprocket gear 24 keyed to a shaft 25 journaled through the front, lower part of the head B, both of the aforementioned sprocket gears being positioned within the frame of the machine at one side thereof. A spur gear 26, in juxtaposition with the sprocket gear 24 upon the shaft 25 and adapted to be driven in unison therewith, is provided for driving a gear 21 mounted upon a shaft 28 (Fig. 3). This shaft 23 has a sprocket gear 29 secured upon its outer end externally of the frame on the operators side of the machine (Fig. 1). A similar sprocket gear 30, secured upon a shaft 3| journaled transversely of the head, is adapted to be driven by the gear 29 by means of a connecting sprocket chain 32. An elongated roller 33, medially positioned within the headupon the shaft 3|, is provided and is adapted to be rotated at a uniform rate of speed by the sprocket 30, the function of which will be later explained. (See Figs. 1 and 15.)

A pair of spaced segmental rollers 34 are provided in vertical alignment with, above, and in resilient contact with the aforementioned cylindrical roller 33, and are rigidly mounted upon independent horizontal stub shafts 35. These segmental rollers, each comprising an attachment hub 36 and an integrally extended, semicylindrical, or partially cylindrical, body or roller portion 31 (Fig. '7), are adapted to be rotated in unison with one another and at a constant rate of speed by means of sprocket gears 38 secured upon the outer extremities of the stub shafts 35, the sprocket gears 38 being connected by sprocket chains 39 to similar sprocket gears 40 upon the outer ends of the shaft 25 (Figs. 1 and 2). Thus it will be seen that these rollers, i. e., the upper and lower rollers, are operatively positioned so as to be rotated in unison inwardly toward the rear of the machine, whereby the blanks upon being positioned within the bight of the rollers will be drawn therebetween one at a time and forced rearwardly a predetermined distance, as will be later explained.

Conventional separator disks 4|, mounted upon angularly positioned stub shafts 42 transversely Journaled in brackets 43 and through the head at 43 (see Fig. 4), are provided atop the machine and are adapted to be driven by horizontal shafts 44 by means of intermediate bevel gears 45 (Figs. 4 and 6), the shafts 44 being continuously driven by gear trains 46 driven by gears 41 on the shaft 35 on either side of the machine (Figs. 1 and 2). Reciprocatory stop pins 48 (Fig. 12) actuated by the conventional cam and follower system 49 operate in synchronization with the separator disks, both the separator disks and stop pins serving to separate and retain the unused blanks in the conventional manner, a ratchet blank holder 56 (Figs. 1 and 6) being provided for retaining the blanks until drawn downwardly, as will be later explained.

An adjustable cross type blank or sheet holder is provided beneath the separator disks for supporting the blanks 5| as fed to the machine (Fig. 6). This holder comprises a bottom plate 52 medially and angularly positioned within and parallel to the base frames A, the upper, arcuate end 53 being directed toward the bight of the aforementioned rollers and the lower end being secured to a cross-bar 54 (Fig. 6), which is in turn secured to the base frames A, a trans versely positioned guide arm plate 55 slidably mounted upon the bottom plate, and a pair of guide arms 56 (Fig. 4) each slidably mounted upon either side of the guide arm plate, each guide arm having a guide pin 51 rigidly secured thereto and extended perpendicularly upwardly therefrom. A horizontal guide strip 58 (Fig. 6) is extended from the upper, arcuate end 53 of the bottom plate 52 inwardly between the rollers so as to prevent the forward ends 59 of the blanks falling downwardly and away from spacing and conveyor beltsv on the rearward sideof the rollers, the operation and use of which will be later explained. The arcuate end 53 is provided for the purpose of bending the sheets transversely just before they pass over the guide strip 58, and by this means to prevent sidewise displacement of said sheets. A recess 60 (Fig. 6) is formed in the lower roller for the reception of the guide strip 58 so that the upper surface of this strip will be flush with the top of the roller.

The bottom plate 52 is formed with a series of equally spaced suction holes 6| which are distributed at equal intervals over a length of the said plate substantially equal to the height of the longest envelope blank (Figs. 4 and 5). These suction holes are sufficiently numerous and are located sufficiently near to one another so that suction will be applied to the exposed lower trailing margin of each blank of the overlapped series which has not been advanced to a position clear of the roller segments 34, even when very short segments are employed. A caswhich communicates with a source of suction" A through a tube 82. Anadjustable valve plate 580 is, provided which may be slid forward to cover one or more of the suction holes 8| as desired (Figs. 6 and 9).

A suction arm 63, provided with a telescoping tubular extension 83' fitted therein and secured by a set screw (Figs. 4 and 6), (adjustable to differing lengths of sheets), is rigidly mounted upon a tubular shaft 84 and has anair duct 84 communicating therewith, and is journaled across the head B, and adapted to be reciprocated below the stacked blanks so as to intermittently draw the lowermost blank downwardly into the bight of the rollers 33 and 34, the suction for this arm being obtained from any suitable source and connected thereto by the hose 85 pivotally attached to the tubular shaft 88. The above suction arm shaft 53 is oscillated by a conventional cam and follower system such as shown at 88 externally. positioned upon the far end of the shaft 28, the follower being pivotally connected to the tubular arm by the crank 81 (Fig. 4).

A sprocket gear 68 is rigidly aforementioned power shaft mounted on the I8 within the frames A and is connected by means of a sprocket chain 89 to a-large sprocket gear 18 securedupon a shaft 1| journaled between the side frames A in the horizontal webs'D thereof (Fig. 3). The shaft H has a small spur gear 12 secured thereto adapted to mesh with and drive a relatively larger gear secured upon a stub shaft 14 journaled through one of the adjacent webs C, the gear 13 being also within the side frames A. A quick change type gear 15 secured in any conventional manner upon the stub shaft 14 externally of the machine is provided and is adapted to mesh with a mating quick change type gear 18 secured upon a shaft 11, the shaft 11 being through the vertical webs E (Fig. 2). This shaft 11 (Fig. 3) has a small spur gear 18 secured thereon within the frames A at one side thereof. A gear 19, similar to the gear 18 and in mesh therewith, is secured upon a shaft 88, this shaft being depended from the upper part of the side frames by means of hangers 8|. Thus it is seen that these spur gears 1819 are directly driven in opposition to one another by the spur gears 15 and 18, and that the speed of the former may be changed by changing the ratio of the latter gears, the advantage of which will be later shown.

A pair of endless belts 82 (Fig. 3) are provided upon and about the shaft 11 in a spaced, transverse relationship to one another, and travel upwardly and rearwardly about spaced rollers 83 (Fig. 5) journaled upon a shaft 84 secured atop the head B at the rear thereof, and travel'downwardly about the rear of a drum the machine, on I the operator's, side,- the, Said sprocket being connected .by means of asprock et chain 94 toa sprocket gear 85 upon the shaft 11 by means of which this system, that is, the drum roller-85, is operated atlthe same surface speed as the shafts 11-88, the shafts I'l 80.

being regarded'as rollers. A similar pair of endless belts 981s provlded'about the shaft 88, as

shown in Fig. 3, the path of travel being upwardly over the surface plate 88 atop the belts 82, about the drum roller-r85 beneath the. belts 82,

upwardly over the drum onto a bed plate 91, forwardly over a roller 98, journaled upon a shaft 99, and downwardly about the shaft 88, an idler journaled transversely the frames A v type roller 85 secured upon a shaft 86, journaled through the head at 81 (Fig. 1), whereupon the ward each other at the same rate of speed, the

speed of which may be varied by changing the ratio of the gears 18-15. The rate of speedof the belt 8I may be changed as desired by any conventional gear change, so as to expose more or less of the fanned out portions of the blanks.

A spacing or calibrating mechanism I83 (Figs. 1 and 8) is provided atop the bed plate 91 upon the belt I8I,for spacing the blanks as they pass therebetween. This spacing mechanism consists of a forked arm holder I83 pivotally and medially mounted upon the shaft 84 by means of the apertured forks I84, the juncture of-the forks or body portion I85 having a borewhat similar in appearance to the forked arm- 7 holder, is slidably positioned upon the arm I81 by virtue of a bore II8 extended through the body portion ll thereof, a wing bolt H2 being provided for releasably securing the carriage to the arm I81. A pair of rollers H3 are rotatably mounted within a pair of forks H4 depended from the body portion III of the carriage and are adapted to ride upon the central endless belt I8I until the blanks 5| come in contact therewith, whereupon the blanks intermittently pass thereunder, this being the point at which the blanks are rearranged or respaced to expose the amount of surface actually desired A guide strip I I5 of such width as to permit it-to be nicely yet freely positioned between the spacing rollers H3 is providedand is extended forwardly to and between the spaced segmental rollers 34 (Fig. 6) and in horizontalalignment with the bight thereof for guiding the blanks beneath the spacing rollers, the forward portion IIG being curved upwardly for this purpose, there being a slot 1 formed therein for the reception of the suction arm 83 on its downward stroke (see Fig. 4). This guide strip has an upwardly extended pin 8 for insertion into a holder H9, a cap screw I28 being provided for securing the pin therein (Fig. 6). The holder II! has a bore I2I extended therethrough by means of which it is positioned uponthe arm, I81, a cap screw I22 being provided v therein for securing itupon the arm (Fig.8). v

A coiled expansion spring I231(Fig."8) has its upper nd positioned inarecess or niche I24fin the rearward underside, of the body portion I85 of the forked arm holder I83, and has, itslower end positioned overfa, pin I25 integrally formed ing immovably secured to the shaft 34, within the forked arm holder, bymeans of a capscrew I21.

The normal action of this spring tends to force the spacing rollers and guide strip downwardly upon the belt IllI, thereby assuring a perfect spacing of the overlapped blanks.

In the operation of this device the blanks to be fed to the machine, and spaced in a superposed arrangement, are evenly and orderly stacked upon the blank holder, whereupon the guide pins 51 are adjusted so as to hold the blanks snugly yet releasably' against the ratchet blank holder 50. then moved forwardly or backwardly upon the spacing arm IIII according to the length of the blanks to be fed to the machine, and the positioning of these spacing rollers may be done by calibrating the spacing arm or bytrial and error. Next the correct set or pair of segmental feed rollers are selected, and secured upon their respective shafts, thereby determining the intermittent travel of the blanks between the feed rollers. Finally the correct set of spacing gears (gears I5 and are selected and secured upon their respective shafts, thereby governing the speed of the conveyor or endless belts. After these adjustments have been made, the machine is set in operation whereupon the oscillatory suction arm seizes the lowermost blank and pulls it downwardly through the rotating separator disks Th spacingroller carriage I09 is.

with a spring holder I23, said spring holder bethe depth of the window aperture. The holding down of the sheets is preferably accomplished in my device by the suction holes OI provided to hold down the overlapped blanks, the vacuum holes being placed in relation to the overlapped blanks so that the vacuum will be exerted against the exposed rear edge underportion of each exposed. sheet. Such holding down of the sheets may be mechanically accomplished as an alternative, as will be hereinafter set forth.

The adjustable segmental roller I29 consists of a body portion I30, similar in shape to that of the fixed segmental roller, upon which is secured by screws I3I, or the'like, a plate I32 of the same radius of curvature as the body portion, various sized Plates being provided so that the depth of the segment is less than the depth of the window aperture in the blank'being fed through my de- 4I into the bight of the upper segmental rollers 34 and the lower cylindrical roller 33. Upon being drawn downwardly into the bight of these rollers, the blank is pulled down onto the bottom blank holder plate 52 where it is slidably retained by virtue of the continuous suction maintained thereat by the hose 52 connected thereto. As-the blank is drawn into the rollers 33 and 34 it is forced forwardly by the frictional contact of the i rollers rotating. inwardly toward one another away from the stacked blanks. In the meantime the suction arm has returned to its upward position, thereby completing a cycle of operation. As the blanks are intermittently discharged from the continuously rotating feed rollers, they are forced betweenthe guide strip II5 of the spacing mechanism and the rearwardly moving endless belts by means of which the first blank is carried into contact withthe spacing rollers H3, at which point the blank definitely assumes the speed of the endless belts therebelow, the spacing rollers holding the blank in firm contact therewith. Inasmuch as the endless belts are moving at a slower rate of speed relative to the feed rollers, the blanks assume a definite and constant superposed, overlapped relationship to one another, which is maintained by additional conveyor belts until it is no longer desirable.

As shown in Fig. 10, a modified type of adjustable, segmental roller is shown that is intended to replace the aforementioned fixed type of segmental rollers 34 when the feeding and spacing machine is to be used in connection with blanks or sheets having window apertures of varying depths, which are difficult to withdraw from the pile if the advancing segment is deep enough to withdraw the blanks a greater space than slightly less than the depth of the aperture of the window. The operation of these modified segmental rollers is, however, similar to the operation of the segmental rollers 34. This leads to the adoption of a series of easily removable and replaceable plates of different depths adapted vice, in order to prevent the catching of the rear edge of ,the window aperture of the blank being advanced against the forward edge of the window aperture of the blank in advance of and beneath the blank being advanced by the segmental rollers.

By the mechanism which I have set forth and described above, I am enabled to maintain an exact longitudinal alignment of the advancing, overlapped sheets in a true rotary manner, as distinguished from the start and stop movement of the reciprocatory or Geneva type, whereby I provide asimple machine and increase the productive capacity thereof. alignment is always exact, as well as the spacing of the overlapped sheets, it preserves the proper synchronization of the spacing unit with the folding or other succeeding units.

In the alternative mechanical device (Figs. 15, 16-, and 1'7) for holding in place the series of envelope blanks which may be substituted for the suction holding means previously described, a stationary shaft I33 is mounted in a boss I34 of the frame A, said shaft being positioned transversely ofthe machine. A rocker arm I35 is journaled upon this shaft and is held thereon by means of collars I35, one on each side of said rocker arm. The collars I36 serve to permit the rocker I35 to be moved lengthwise on the shaft I33. One of the collars I36 has a lug I31 extended therefrom for holding a spring I38 against the rearward end I39 of the rocker arm I35, the purpose of this spring being to normally force the forward end of the rocker arm I35 downwardly. A roller I40 is provided at the forward end of the rocker arm I35 to engage the cam surface I upon the segmental-roller 34. Another roller I42 is mounted upon a shaft I43 and adapted to be moved in or out and held in position upon the shaft I43 by collars I44. The shaft I43 is rigidly mounted at the lower end of a member I45, which is adapted to be moved lengthwise on the rocker arm I35, a thumb nut I45 being provided for locking the member I 45 in any desired position upon the rocker arm I35.

The top blank S as shown in Fig. 15 is just being released from the feeding action of the segments 31 of the segmental rollers 34, and the roll- As the longitudinal rollers 34 are ineffective. Blank S has partly advanced beneath the calibrating roller H3 and is moving on with the other blanks S and S to the other portions of the mechanism. It may be noted, incidentally, that my machine is designedto operate upon diamond-shaped blanks, therefore it may be assumed a setting of the brackets I45 longitudinally of the arms I35 and a setting of the rollers I42 longitudinally of the shafts I43 will cause the leading margin of the top blank S to lie beneath the rollers I42 in the position of Figs. 15 and 17, but the trailing margin of the bottom blank S, as previously identified, is already clear of the position in which it could be gripped by the rollers I42. As shown in Fig. 17, the rollers I42 will engage the leading margins of the blanks S, S, and S and escape pressing against the trailing margin of the bottom blank S Thus the bottom blank S can be drawn forward by the belt IIII while the three blanks which overlie its trailing margin are clamped stationary by the rollers I42. Much of my machine is of the well known, conventional type as to belt feeds and speed-changing devices, so that such mechanism will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

In using this alternative form of mechanical device, the overlapped blanks are moved forwardly by the segmental rollers 34. As the segmental rollers 34 rotate, the cam I4I raisesthe rocker arm I35, the rollers I42 also being raised, permitting the overlapped blanks to pass between the rollers I42 and a lower member M when the segmental rollers 34 are efiective. When said rollers 34 are inefiective the cam I4I has rotated to a position where the rocker arm I35 is lowered, thus permitting the rollers I42 to contact and press upon the sheets therebeneath.

In Fig. 17 I have shown in an enlarged top view, somewhat fragmentary, the arrangement of the alternative mechanical device for pressing down upon the envelope blanks when the segments 34 have rotated into ineffective position. It will be noted that the rollers I42 are not pressing upon any portion of the lowermost blank S but are pressing upon blanks S, S, and S when these blanks have been released from the advancing movement caused by the engagement of the segmental rollers 34 with said sheets. It will be noted that the lowermost sheet S is immediately passing into the bight of the calibrating roller II3 as it becomes freed from the segmental rollers 34 and the pressure rollers I42.

This application is a continuation in part of my application Serial No. 286,737, filed July 2'7, 1939, for Sheet spacing machines.

I claim:

1. In combination, means for supporting a stack of blanks, roller segment mechanism comprising a roller segment and a roller opposed thereto for intermittently gripping blanks and advancing them from said stack, picker mechanism for successively introducing the blanks from the stack between the roller and the roller segment, said roller segment having a circumferential extent smaller than the shortest blank of said stack so that said blanks are advanced by said when segment mechanism step by step and in overlapping relation, and suction means for gripping the exposed trailing margins of a plurality of blanks which have been advanced one or more steps by the roller segment mechanism but which still require to be advanced one or more steps by such mechanism in order to be moved clear thereof, to hold everyone of such blanks against shifting during the periods when the roller segment runs out of co-acting relation with the roll- 2. In combination, means for supporting a stack of blanks, roller segment mechanism comprising a roller segment and a roller opposed thereto for intermittently gripping blanks and advancing them from said stack, picker mechanism for successively introducing the blanks from the stack between the roller and the roller segment, said roller segment having a circumferential extent smaller than the shortest blank of said stack so that said blanks are advanced by said roller segment mechanism step by step and in overlapping relation, and means for yieldingly gripping the blanks which have been introduced between the rolls and disengaged from the stack and which have been advanced one or more steps by the roller segment mechanism but which still require to be advanced one or more steps by such mechanism in order to be moved clear thereof, to hold every one of such blanks against shifting during the periods when the roller segment runs out of co-acting relation with the roller.

v3. In an apparatus forarranging and advancing sheets in fanned out relation, in combination, a support for a stack of sheets, roller mechanism comprising opposed rotary members for intermittently grippin sheets. between them to advance the sheets step by step, means for periodically placing the leading margins of the sheets from the stack one after another in the space between the rotary members, subsequently acting mechanism for engaging and advancing each sheet only after it has been advanced through a plurality of steps by the roller mechanism, and means for holding stationary, during the periods when the rotary members are not in sheet gripping relation to one another, the partially advanced sheets between the rotary members which have become disengaged from the stack and which would otherwise be uncontrolled in such periods;

4. In an apparatus for arranging and advancing sheets in fanned out relation, in combination, a support for a stack of sheets, roller segment mechanism comprising roller segment means and roller means opposed thereto for intermittently gripping the sheets and advancing them step by step through steps equal in extent to only a fraction of a sheet length, means for periodically introducing the leading margins of sheets from the stack one after another between the roller segment means and the roller means, subsequently acting mechanism for engaging and advancing each sheet only after it has been advanced through a plurality of steps by the roller segment mechanism, and means for gripping the sheets which have been advanced one or more steps by the roller segment mechanism, but which still require to be advanced one or more steps by such mechanism in order to be moved clear thereof, to hold stationary, during the period when the roller segment means runs out of sheet-gripping relation with the roller means, sheets which have become disengaged from the stack and which would otherwise be uncontrolled in such period.

5. In an apparatus for arranging and advancing sheets in fanned out relation, in combination, a support for a stack of sheets, roller segment mechanism comprising roller segment means and roller means opposed thereto for intermittently gripping the sheets and advancing them step by step through steps equal in extent to only a fraction of a sheet lentt means for periodically introducing the leading margins of sheets from the stack one after another between the roller segment means and the roller means, constantly running mechanism for engaging each sheet only after it has been advanced through a plurality of steps by the roller segment mechanism, and advancing it continuously in fanned out relation with the sheets which have preceded it, means for gripping the sheets which have been advanced one or more steps by the roller segment mechanism but which still require to be advanced one r more steps by such mechanism in order to be, oved clear thereof, to hold stationary, during ithe period when the roller segment means runs out o! sheet-gripping relation with the roller means, the sheets which have become disengaged from the stack and which would otherwise be uncontrolled in such period.

6. In an apparatus for arranging and advancing sheets in fanned out relation, in combination, roller segment mechanism comprising roller segment means and roller means opposed thereto ior intermittently slipping the sheets has been advanced through a plurality of steps by the roller segment mechanism, means ion gripping the sheets which have been advanced one or more steps by the roller segment mechanism but which still require to be advanced one or more steps by such mechanism in order to be moved clear thereof, to hold stationary, during the period when the roller segment means runs out or sheet-gripping relation with the roller means, sheets which would otherwise be uncontrolled in such period, and means for moving the gripping means to an effective position as the segment means becomes ineffective and for moving the gripping means to an ineffective position as the segment means becomes effective.

CHARLES F. PFLANZE.

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