US3104099A - Sheet orienting and aligning mechanism - Google Patents

Sheet orienting and aligning mechanism Download PDF

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Publication number
US3104099A
US3104099A US155635A US15563561A US3104099A US 3104099 A US3104099 A US 3104099A US 155635 A US155635 A US 155635A US 15563561 A US15563561 A US 15563561A US 3104099 A US3104099 A US 3104099A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
sheets
wall
chamber
sheet
exit slit
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US155635A
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English (en)
Inventor
Jack H Checketts
Tell George D La
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
International Business Machines Corp
Original Assignee
International Business Machines Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority to NL285952D priority Critical patent/NL285952A/xx
Application filed by International Business Machines Corp filed Critical International Business Machines Corp
Priority to US155635A priority patent/US3104099A/en
Priority to GB40717/62A priority patent/GB978009A/en
Priority to DEJ22726A priority patent/DE1219394B/de
Priority to NL62285952A priority patent/NL140440B/xx
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3104099A publication Critical patent/US3104099A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B07—SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS; SORTING
    • B07C—POSTAL SORTING; SORTING INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES, OR BULK MATERIAL FIT TO BE SORTED PIECE-MEAL, e.g. BY PICKING
    • B07C1/00—Measures preceding sorting according to destination
    • B07C1/02—Forming articles into a stream; Arranging articles in a stream, e.g. spacing, orientating
    • B07C1/04—Forming a stream from a bulk; Controlling the stream, e.g. spacing the articles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
    • B65G47/02—Devices for feeding articles or materials to conveyors
    • B65G47/04—Devices for feeding articles or materials to conveyors for feeding articles
    • B65G47/12—Devices for feeding articles or materials to conveyors for feeding articles from disorderly-arranged article piles or from loose assemblages of articles
    • B65G47/14—Devices for feeding articles or materials to conveyors for feeding articles from disorderly-arranged article piles or from loose assemblages of articles arranging or orientating the articles by mechanical or pneumatic means during feeding
    • B65G47/1407—Devices for feeding articles or materials to conveyors for feeding articles from disorderly-arranged article piles or from loose assemblages of articles arranging or orientating the articles by mechanical or pneumatic means during feeding the articles being fed from a container, e.g. a bowl
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H9/00—Registering, e.g. orientating, articles; Devices therefor
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
    • G06K13/00—Conveying record carriers from one station to another, e.g. from stack to punching mechanism
    • G06K13/02—Conveying record carriers from one station to another, e.g. from stack to punching mechanism the record carrier having longitudinal dimension comparable with transverse dimension, e.g. punched card
    • G06K13/08—Feeding or discharging cards
    • G06K13/10—Feeding or discharging cards from magazine to conveying arrangement

Definitions

  • This invention relates to sheet orienting and aligning mechanism, and more particularly to mechanism for aligning sheets which are delivered to the mechanism in disarranged random oriented fashion.
  • the principal object of this invention is to provide a mechanism which, when sheets are supplied thereto in disarranged handfuls or bunches and without any smoothing or other preconditioning, is capable of delivering such sheets in one of a predetermined limited number of possible oriented relations, so that a work operation may be performed thereon.
  • Another object is to provide a mechanism of the above general type capable of orienting and aligning sheets irrespective of random variations in their length or thickness.
  • Another object is to provide a sheet orienting and aligning mechanism wherein sheets are carried along by a stream of high velocity air or other fluid and spewed out fiatwise from an exit opening and oriented by the current of the fluid stream.
  • Still another object is to provide a sheet aligning mechanism embodying means for reducing the possibility of sheet jams at the exit opening, and also embodying means automatically operative to curtail continued supply of sheets to the mechanism whenever it tends to become overloaded.
  • the sheet orienting and aligning mechanism embodying the invention comprises a housing providing a chamber having a cylindrical wall, and fluid inlet port means and a sheet exit slit both diverging substantially tangentially from said wall at points spaced therealong. Sheets are admitted in disarranged randomoriented relation and without preconditioning through a chute that opens through the side wall of the housing. Air under pressure supplied to the inlet port means creates a stream of fast moving air adjacent said wall to carry random ones of the sheets generally in a path conforming to said wall and spew them out the exit slit in an aligned or oriented fashion.
  • the mechanism also preferably comprises paddle wheel means rotatably disposed within the chamber and having arms or vanes which with considerable radial clearance sweep by the wall to dislodge any misoriented sheets which may tend to become clogged in .the exit slit.
  • Means are also preferably provided automatically to interrupt continued supply of sheets from the chute to the chamber when the rotational speed of the paddle wheel means drops below a preselected value indicative of an overload condition.
  • FIG. 1 is a side elevation view, partly broken away, of a sheet orienting and aligning mechanism embodying the invention
  • FIG. 2 is an end elevation view taken generally along the line 22 of FIG. 1, and partly broken away more clearly to illustrate the invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram for controlling a feed gate preferably associated with the mechanism.
  • the sheet orienting and aligning mechanism embodying the invention comprises a housing 9 providing a chamber 10 defined by a cylindrical wall 11.
  • the housing is preferably annular in shape and sectionalized to include a flanged metallic disc 12 and a flanged transparent plastic disc 13 snapped over the flanged open end of disc 12.
  • Disc 12 is mounted against and suitably carried by a support plate .14.
  • a sheet conveying means, illustrated as a chute 15, is provided to admit disarranged random-oriented sheets 16 into chamber 10 via an opening 17 through the transparent end wall defined by disc 13.
  • These sheets may be of random varying thicknesses and lengths.
  • the sheets preferably are of substantially equal widths because, for best results, chamber 16* should be only slightly wider than the Width of the sheets 16.
  • Pressure fluid preferably air under pressure
  • a centrifugal fan or other suitable source vI18 via a manifold 19 to a plurality of fluid inlet ports 20.
  • These ports are arranged in side-by-side relation and open substantially tangentially through wall 11 to deliver a stream of air which sweeps by the inner surface of said wall. The fastest moving and major portion of this stream is within a very small distance, such as about onequarter inch, from the wall 11.
  • Sheets admitted to chamber 10 through opening 17 drop by gravity toward the lower part of wall 11 (assisted by the slinging action of a paddle wheel 39, if used) and are caught in the air stream and carried clockwise around the wall toward an exit opening or slit 21.
  • the sheets are held close to wall 11 due to centrifugal force and the low pressure area close to said wall. Thus, random ones of these sheets will be carried such that their fiat sides tend to conform to the curvature of, and thus be concentric with, the wall 11.
  • Exit slit 21 extends across the full width of the chamber Iii and is preferably about one-quarter inch in height. It diverges substantially tangentially from wall 11 at a point which, as illustrated, is about 270 downstream of the inlet ports 20.
  • the sheets which are sufiiciently smoothed out and aligned or oriented so as to be generally square with exit slit 21 can and will be expelled by the air stream from chamber 1% via the exit slit and advanced clockwise into a guide channel 22.
  • a suitable drive means drives the expelled sheets from channel 22 into a separator means, designated generally 24.
  • the drive means 23, as illustrated, comprises a pair of laterally spaced belts 25. Each belt runs around corresponding pulleys 26, 27 Both drive pulleys 26 are mounted on and rotated by a common drive shaft 28. Both idler pulleys 27 are freely rotatable on a pin or stub shaft 29 that, intermediate its ends, is carried by a plate or support 34 rockably supported on shaft 28.
  • a suitably anchored spring 31 pulls on support 30 to bias it clockwise about shaft 28 and preferably to a limit position defined by contact with a suitably supported adjustable stop screw 32.
  • this stop screw is adjusted so that when the belts are in their lowermost position, they will be spaced very slightly from the lower surface 33 of channel 22.
  • spring 31 yieldably biases the belts 25 toward the sheets to maintain them in frictional driving contact with the sheets despite variations in the thickness of a single sheet or the cumulative thickness of superposed sheets which may be driven into channel 22.
  • the belts 25 and support 30 can yield upwardly as necessary to permit superposed sheets to be advanced therepast.
  • the separating means 24, as illustrated, comprises two rolls 34, 35 rotating in the same direction (clockwise as viewed in FIG. 1).
  • the periphery of roll 34 is formed of resilient material having a high coefiicient of friction
  • the periphery of roll 35 is formed of material having a low coeiiicient of friction.
  • the separator means 24 will assure that sheets will be delivered successively one at a time to a caster 36 which is mounted to swivel as necessary to align the sheets laterally against a registration edge 37.
  • the aligned sheets then move past caster 36 into means, such as the bite of conventional feed rolls 33, that advance the sheets into a prescribed transport path.
  • the mechanism preferably includes the paddle wheel, designated generally 39, to sling the incoming sheets toward wall 11, as already stated. In addition, it serves to break up local concentrations of sheets and dislodge any misoriented sheets which might obstruct and tend to jam in the exit slit 21.
  • the paddle wheel either helps push the sheets through the exit slit 21 or sweeps them past said slit for recirculation around the chamber and another try at getting out of said slit.
  • the paddle wheel 39 helps assure continuous delivery of sheets from the exit slit 21 and virtually eliminates jams which the operator must clear.
  • paddle wheel 39 is concentrically disposed in chamber 1%) and rotatably supported on a shaft 40.
  • This shaft is journaled in hub-type bearings 41 which are respectively carried by support plate 14- and mounted against transparent disc 13.
  • the inner ends of bearings 41 abut the respective opposite ends of a sleeve 42 that is secured by a set screw 43 to rotate with shaft 40.
  • a plurality of paddles or vanes 44 are spaced at equal angles around, and are carried by, the sleeve 42 so as to sweep with radial clearance past wall 11. This clearance is sufiicient to prevent the sheets from becoming wedged between the paddle wheel vanes and Wall or becoming damaged during dislodgernent.
  • Each vane 44 preferably extends across only the radially outermost part of a corresponding U-shaped wire framework 45. This permits sheets to pass through the open portion of the framework radially inward of each vane 44.
  • pulleys 26 are driven from a main drive belt 46 through a pulley 47 keyed or splined to shaft 28. Also paddle wheel shaft is driven from main pulley shaft 47 through a spider-type slip clutch 48, a pulley 49, a belt 50 and a pulley 51.
  • clutch 43 will slip and permit shaft 40 and the paddle wheel to slow down. This will prevent injury to the sheets and paddle wheel in event of overload.
  • the mechanism also preferably comprises means operable automatically, whenever and so long as chamber 10 is overloaded, to interrupt or curtail continued supply of sheets to said chamber.
  • this means comprises a gate 52 hinged at 53 and biased by a spring 54 to a closed or shut-off position in which it is shown in FIG. 1.
  • a solenoid 55 When a solenoid 55 is energized, its plunger 56 will be attracted and, through a pin-and-slot connection with the under side of gate 52, pull the gate down to the position denoted by broken lines in FIG. 1. In this position, the gate will be retracted against a stop 57a and permit sheets 16 to fall freely from chute 15 through opening 17 into chamber 11.
  • Energization of solenoid 55 may be controlled in any well-known manner.
  • the belt 50 in addition to driving the paddle wheel shaft 49, also drives the armature of a direct-current generator 57 through a pulley 53 and a shaft 59.
  • the generator output is connected through an adjustable amplifier 60 to the solenoid 55.
  • the rotational velocities of paddle wheel shaft 40 and generator shaft 59 are proportional; and as long as the velocity of shaft 40 exceeds the preselected value, as determined by adjustment of the amplifier 60, s-ufficient voltage will be developed to energize solenoid 55 for holding the gate 52 in its open or lowered position.
  • the jam may be cleared very easily by manually turning the extension of shaft 49 at 61 (or turning belt 59) in a direction to rotate paddle wheel 39 contra to the air stream, i.e., counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 1. This turning can be accomplished without difiieulty because of the slip drive through clutch 48 and will invariably clear the jam without requiring removal of the transparent disc 13.
  • the orienting and aligning mechanism is capable of delivering in an oriented relation sheets of different random intermixed lengths and thicknesses. It will also be noted that the mechanism will orient disarranged random-oriented sheets even if they are bent or crumpled. Since there is no control over the sequence in which sheets are delivered to the exit slit 21, those sheets which are not properly positioned or are in bad condition may be recirculated an indeterminate number of times before being expelled from chamber 10. However, it has been found that the presence of sheets in bad condition does not reduce the average throughput of the mechanism.
  • exit slit 21 should be slightly wider than the width of the sheets but less than the length of the sheets. In such case, the sheets will be ejected into channel 22 short-edge first in one of four desired oriented positions; namely, face-up or face-down with either short-edge first. Also, the height of the exit slit 21 is preferably about one-quarter inch and extends across the entire width of chamber 10, as already noted.
  • Sheet orienting mechanism comprising housing means providing a chamber defined at least in part by a curved wall, and a sheet exit slit diverging substantially tangentially from said wall; means for admitting sheets to said chamber in disarranged random-oriented relation;
  • Sheet orienting mechanism comprising housing means providing a chamber having a peripheral wall at least part of which is curved, and fluid inlet port means and a sheet exit slit both diverging substantially tangentially from said curved part at points spaced therealong; means for admitting sheets to said chamber in disarranged random-oriented relation through a side wall of the housing means; and means for supplying fluid under pressure to said inlet port means to create a stream of fiuid that moves rapidly along said Wall and in so doing provides a low pressure area adjacent said wall to cause sheets to be advanced by said stream to and through the exit slit with their flat sides generally conforming with said curved part, thereby to cause sheets to be spewed out of said slit in an oriented fashion.
  • Mechanism for orienting and aligning sheets having long and short edges comprising housing means providing a chamber having a substantially cylindrical wall, and fluid inlet port means and a sheet exit slit both diverging substantially tangentially from said wall at points spaced therealong, said slit being wider than the shortedge dimension and narrower than the long-edge dimension of the sheets; means for admitting sheets to said chamber in random-oriented relation through a side wall of the housing means and at a place from which they will drop by gravity toward the wall between said points; and means for supplying pressure fluid to said inlet port means to create a stream of fast moving fluid along said wall to cause random ones of the sheets to be driven flatwise concentrically with said wall and out said slit in an oriented fashion short-edge first.
  • Sheet orienting mechanism comprising housing means providing a chamber defined at least in part by a curved wall, and a sheet exit slit diverging substantially tangentially from said wall; means for admitting sheets to said chamber in disarranged random-oriented relation; means for directing fluid under pressure toward said wall within the chamber to create a low pressure high velocity region immediately adjacent said wall and a fluid stream moving along said wall and out said slit for conveying sheets to and spewing them from the exit slit. flatwise and in an oriented fashion; and means disposed in said chamber and having elements which with clearance move by said Wall in the direction of said fluid stream thereby to tend to break up local concentrations or jams of sheets and prevent an unoriented sheet from clogging the exit slit.
  • Mechanism for orienting and aligning substantially rectangular sheets comprising means providing a chamber defined at least in part by a cylindrically curved surface, fluid inlet port means and a sheet exit slit each diverging substantially tangentially from said surface at points spaced therealong, and an opening via which sheets are supplied to said chamber in disarranged randomoriented fashion; and means for conveying fluid under pressure to said inlet port means to create a low pressure region adjacent said surface and a stream of rapidly moving fluid adjacent said surface to circulate the sheets within the chamber and carry them toward and spew them out of said exit slit in one of a predetermined limited number of possible oriented positions.
  • said slit has a height which is less than the cumulative thickness of a preselected number of sheets and a Width equal substantially to the width of said chamber, and wherein the sheets are longer than they are Wide, and slightly narrower than the width of the chamber, thereby to cause the sheets to be expelled through the exit slit short-edge first in one of four possible oriented positions.
  • shut-oft means controlled by the rate of rotation of the rotatable means to interrupt further supply of sheets to said chamber via said opening when rotational speed of said rotatable means drops below a preselected value.
  • Sheet orienting mechanism comprising housing means providing a chamber defined at least in part by a curved wall, and a sheet exit diverging substantial-1y tangentially from said wall; means for admitting sheets to said chamber; and means for directing fluid under pressure generally longitudinally along said wall within the chamber to create a low pressure region immediately adjacent said wall and within a fluid stream that moves rapidly along said wall and conveys the sheets to the exit via a path conforming generally to the configuration of said wall.
  • Sheet orienting mechanism comprising housing means providing a chamber having a wall at least part of which is curved, and a fluid inlet port means and a sheet exit diverging from said wall at points spaced therealong; means for admitting sheets to said chamber through a side of the housing means; and means for supplying fluid under pressure to said inlet port means to create a stream of fluid that moves rapidly along said wall and in so doing provides a low pressure area adjacent said wall to cause sheets to be advanced by said stream to the exit with their flat sides generally conforming to the configuration of said wall.
  • Sheets 1 and 2 line 1, for "J. H. CHECKETTS ET AL.” read J. C. RATHERT, FORMERLY KNOWN AS J. H. CHECKETTS ET AL. in the grant, line 1, and in the heading to the printed specification, line 4, for "Jack H. Checketts", each occurrence, read Jack Checketts Rathert, formerly known as Jack H. Checketts column 5, line 2, strike out "to”; same column 5, line 4, after "wall” insert and Signed and sea led this 12th day of May 1964.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Sheets, Magazines, And Separation Thereof (AREA)
  • Discharge By Other Means (AREA)
  • Delivering By Means Of Belts And Rollers (AREA)
US155635A 1961-11-29 1961-11-29 Sheet orienting and aligning mechanism Expired - Lifetime US3104099A (en)

Priority Applications (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL285952D NL285952A (en, 2012) 1961-11-29
US155635A US3104099A (en) 1961-11-29 1961-11-29 Sheet orienting and aligning mechanism
GB40717/62A GB978009A (en) 1961-11-29 1962-10-29 Improved sheet conveyor mechanism
DEJ22726A DE1219394B (de) 1961-11-29 1962-11-24 Vorrichtung zum Zufuehren von ungeordnet in einem Magazin befindlichen Blaettern
NL62285952A NL140440B (nl) 1961-11-29 1962-11-26 Inrichting voor het orienteren en aligneren van voorwerpen.

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US155635A US3104099A (en) 1961-11-29 1961-11-29 Sheet orienting and aligning mechanism

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3104099A true US3104099A (en) 1963-09-17

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ID=22556196

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US155635A Expired - Lifetime US3104099A (en) 1961-11-29 1961-11-29 Sheet orienting and aligning mechanism

Country Status (4)

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US (1) US3104099A (en, 2012)
DE (1) DE1219394B (en, 2012)
GB (1) GB978009A (en, 2012)
NL (2) NL140440B (en, 2012)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3238509A (en) * 1961-12-08 1966-03-01 Ncr Co Control means for a random access storage system

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3375761D1 (en) * 1983-05-12 1988-04-07 Computer Services Corp Sorting device

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1040025A (en) * 1910-08-02 1912-10-01 Georg Schlesinger Sheet-handling mechanism.
US2819076A (en) * 1955-04-29 1958-01-07 Paul H Wendt Paper-handling apparatus

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1779866A (en) * 1929-01-24 1930-10-28 Waterbury Farrel Foundry Co Feed mechanism

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1040025A (en) * 1910-08-02 1912-10-01 Georg Schlesinger Sheet-handling mechanism.
US2819076A (en) * 1955-04-29 1958-01-07 Paul H Wendt Paper-handling apparatus

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3238509A (en) * 1961-12-08 1966-03-01 Ncr Co Control means for a random access storage system

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB978009A (en) 1964-12-16
NL285952A (en, 2012)
DE1219394B (de) 1966-06-16
NL140440B (nl) 1973-12-17

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