US3727495A

US3727495A - Automatic partition cutting machine

Info

Publication number: US3727495A
Application number: US00186323A
Authority: US
Inventors: R Vermes; R Nebeling; J Knecht
Original assignee: Continental Can Co Inc
Current assignee: Continental Can Co Inc
Priority date: 1971-10-04
Filing date: 1971-10-04
Publication date: 1973-04-17
Anticipated expiration: 1990-04-17

Abstract

This disclosure relates to a machine for automatically cutting partitions and stacking the same. The partitions are formed by first slitting a stack of sheets into a bundle of strips, then serially moving the bundles of strips onto on edge positions with the rotated bundles then being serially moved to become part of a large group of on edge strips which are then moved through appropriate saws to divide the strips into predetermined length partitions and to notch or slit the same. In the movement of the on edge strips, after they move past the saws, the cut and slit strips (partitions) are moved into stacked relation.

Description

United States Patent Vermes et al.

[ 1 Apr. 17, 1973 [5 AUTOMATIC PARTITION CUTTING 2,672,931 3 1954 Maher ..83/407 x MACHINE 3,224,307 12/1965 Kinker ..83/35 -[75] Inventors: Roy E. Vermes, Wilbraham, Mass; FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Robert L. Nebeling, Wayne, N.J.;

J E. Knecht, Riverdale, Conn. 562,626 10/1932 Germany ..83/437 [73] Assignee: Continental Can Company, Inc., Primary ExaminerAndrew R. Juhasz New York, N.Y. Assistant Examiner-Leon Gilden al. Filed: Oct. 1971 Attorney Charles E Brown et [21] Appl. No.: 186,323 1 1 ABSTRACT This disclosure relates to a machine for automatically 52 US. Cl. ..83/35, 83/39, 83/255, cutting Partitions and Stacking the Same- The p 83/272, 83/276, 33/408 83/431 tions are formed by first slitting a stack of sheets into a 51 1m. (:1. ..B26d 7/06 bundle of Strips, sen'ally moving the bundles of [58] Field of Search ..s3/9 32 35 39 strips edge psitins with the mated bundles 83/249 255 272 276 404 3 6 2 then being serially moved to become part of a large g 2 group of on edge strips which are then moved through appropriate saws to divide the strips into'predetermined length partitions and to notch or slit the same. [56] References cued In the movement of the on edge strips, after they UNITED STATES PATENTS move past the saws, the cut and slit strips (partitions) are moved into stacked relation. 2,074,922 3/1937 Kessel ..83/4l8 1,075,492 10/1913 Payne ..83/418 X 20 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 47 flii 111 5U 1- 9a I 9 1 5885 I M 1* t 'i v i i gibg 'rw g, r T! A? l 2.10; 56 3 1 A 31 h 311 53 B 62 8U 111 J 1.3 84

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AUTOMATIC PARTITION CUTTING MACHINE This invention relates generally to new and useful improvements in apparatus for and method of forming partitions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Partitions are customarily formed from sheets of paperboard and corrugated board. Customarily, the sheets are stacked and then are slit to define a plurality of bundles of strips. Thereafter, these strips are further cut as required to form the desired length of partitions and to form the necessary notches or slits therein.

In order to simultaneously cut a large number of strips into individual partitions and to form the necessary slits therein, in the past it has been known to stack a number of bundles of strips, one on the other, and then rotate a stacked group of bundles to a position wherein they may be relatively moved with respect to a saw or saws so as to effect the necessary cutting into partition lengths and the formation of necessary notches in such partitions.

In the past, the machines for making partitions required close manual attention as well as operations on the part of the operators with the result that partition making has been undesirably expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, it is proposed to provide a partition forming machine which will operate independently of an operator and which functions as such that only in the event of a jam does an operator have to perform any function whatsoever, the primary responsibility of the operator being to view the partition forming operations of the machine and to make certain that there is no jamming or otherwise misoperation of the machine.

In accordance with this invention, sheets of the desired paperboard product are automatically fed to a stacking position and are automatically stacked to the desired height under the control of a counter. Thereafter, the stack of sheets is moved relative to a plurality of normally fixed but adjustably mounted saws with the stack of sheets being cut into bundles of strips or sticks. The strips will be of a width corresponding to the intended height of the final partition.

Simultaneously with the cutting of the stack of sheets, the bundles of strips are moved onto a conveyor having a direction of movement normal to the movement of the stack of sheets. The conveyor is periodically operated to move the bundles of strips serially, at spaced intervals, over a fall at one end of the conveyor with each bundle of strips being rotated and the strips being deposited in an on edge supported condition.

A first pusher then pushes the rotated bundle of strips up an incline towards suitable notching and cut off saws through a gate with a large group of strips being accumulated above the gate by the sequential operation of the first pusher. After the large group of on edge strips has been accumulated, a second pusher pushes the group of strips entirely through the saws and into stacking position on a suitable support.

All of the slitting and sawing operations, as well as all of the handling of the strips and the resultant partitions, is automatically performed without any assistance on the part of the operator and the operator need only observe the operations of the machine and be available to correct any defect in the operation of the machine in the event of jamming or other failure.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claims and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings:

In the drawings: 7

FIG. 1 is a plan view of two typical partitions formed in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the partition forming machine and shows the details of the handling of bundles of strips in the formation of partitions therefrom.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the machine of FIG. 2 taken generally along the line 3-3 and shows further details of the machine, more specifically the details of the means for stacking sheets and dividing a stack of sheets into bundles of strips.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of that portion of the partition forming machine more specifically illustrated in FIG. 3 and taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, it will be seen that there is illustrated in FIG. 1 typical partitions formed with the machine of this invention. These partitions, which are identified by the numeral 5, are of a predetermined height and width and are suitably provided with a notch or slit 6 as required to effect the assembling of partitions in interlocking crossing relation.

the numeral 7. The machine 7 includes a plurality of components which operate in unison with each other and include a sheet feeder generally identified by the numeral 8, a sheet slitter generally identified by the numeral 9, a bundle transfer mechanism generally identified by the numeral 10, a slotting and cut off unit generally identified by the numeral 11, and a parition stacker generally identified by the numeral 12.

Returning now to FIGS. 3 and 4 in particular, it will be seen that the sheet slitter 9 includes an elevated table 13 onto which sheets S are delivered, one at a time, by the sheet feeder 8. In order to facilitate the accurate stacking of sheets S, at the end of the table 13 remote from the sheet feeder 8, there are cooperating angle stops 14 which are carried by movable support members 15, the supportmembers 15 being in the form of fluid cylinders so as to enable the angle stops 14 to be withdrawn and permit the feeding of the stack of sheets S off of the table and to the right as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The sheet feeder 8 includes a support 16 on which sheets S are positioned in any desired manner. The support 16 is provided adjacent the table 13 with a pull roll 17 which is adapted to pull an uppermost sheet S off of a stack of sheets positioned on the support 16 and move the same between a pair of feed rolls l8 and 20. It is to be noted that the path of sheets with respect to the rolls 17, 18 and 20 is above the elevation of the table 13 whereby a stack of sheets S may be readily accumulated. The rolls 17 and 20 are suitably driven from a drive unit 21 mounted on the support 16.

In order to facilitate the feeding of a single sheet, the left part of the support 16 is provided with an adjustable back gate 22 which facilitates the lifting and advancing to the right of the uppermost sheet S of the sheets stacked on the support 16. Cooperating with the back gate 22 is a plurality of lift rollers which underlie the right hand ends of the sheets S mounted on the support 16 for elevating the same and to facilitate the movement of the uppermost'sheet S into driven engagement with the roll 17. It is to be noted that the lift rolls 23 are carried by arms 24 which, in turn, are mounted on a transverse shaft 25 for-rocking movement therewith. In order to facilitate the rocking of the arms 24 and the rolls 23, the shaft 25 has connected to one end thereof a crank arm 26 to which a fluid motor 27 is connected. It is to be understood that the fluid motor 27 is actuated in unison with the back gate 22 so that a single uppermost sheet S is fed from the sheet feeder 8 onto the table 13.

It is also to be noted that the feed rolls 18 and 20 have associated therewith a feed gate 28 which is also operated in timed relation so as to permit a single sheet to be periodically fed between the rolls 18 and 20. A suitable counter (not shown) will be associated with the feed mechanism of the sheet feeder 8 so as to automatically feed a preset number of sheets onto the table 13 so that a stack of a predetermined number of sheets S will be accumulated on the table 13.

At this time it is to be noted that the support 16 is equipped with rollers 30 which, in turn, are mounted on tracks 31 so as to facilitate the longitudinal positioning of the sheet feeder 8. This is to permit the sheet feeder 8 to handle sheets of difi'erent lengths. It is also to be understood that the sheet feeder 8 includes suitable side guides 32 which are transversely adjustable so as to properly center sheets of different widths.

At this time it is also to be noted that the fluid motors 15 are adjustably mounted in any suitable manner so as to be both transversely and longitudinally adjustable and thus accommodate sheets S of different dimensions.

The table 13 has associated therewith other fixed support structure 33 at the right hand end thereof which carries for rotation a shaft 34 on which a plurality of saws 35 are mounted. It is to be understood that the saws 35 will be mounted on the shaft 34 inany suitable adjustable manner wherein the spacing between adjacent saws may be selectively varied. At one end of the shaft 34 there is a drive pulley 36 through which the shaft 34 may be driven in any conventional manner so as to rotate the saws 35 in unison.

Associated with the saws 35 in underlying relation thereto is a dust receiving trough 37 to which a suitable exhaust line 38 is connected. Thus, there is constant removal of any dust which accumulates within the saws 35 is accomplished by a pusher which is generally identified by the numeral 42. The pusher 42 overlies the table 13 and the saws 35 and is suitably carried by support beams 43 which, in turn, are carried by suitable supports which may be idependent or which may be parts of the table 13 and the support 33.

The pusher 42 includes a pusher structure 44 which is suitably mounted on the beams 43 by rollers for movement therealong and which is coupled to an endless chain 45 carried by a pair of

sprockets

46 and 47 which may be supported by one of the beams 43 or otherwise suitably supported. The sprocket 46 is a driven sprocket and is driven by means of a drive unit 48. It is to be understood that the drive unit 48 is a reversible type drive so that the pusher structure 44 is reciprocated back and forth on the beams 43. The pusher structure 44 includes :1 depending support structure 50 which has fingers 52 depending therefrom. The lower edges of the fingers 52 are movable to a position substantially in contact with the upper surface of the table 13 and are engageable with the left ends of the sheets S of the stack of sheets on the table 13 and are operable to move the stack of sheets to the right of the table through the saws 35 to effect the slitting of the stack of sheets into a bundle of strips or sticks.

As is best shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, after the stack of sheets has been slit into individual bundles of strips, the bundles being identified by the letter B, simultaneous with the feeding of the sheets to effect the sawing thereof by the saws 35, the bundles B are deposited on the bundle transfer mechanism 10. The bundle transfer mechanism 10, as is clearly shown in FIG. 3, includes a suitable support 53 which includes rollers 54 mounted on tracks 55 so as to facilitate the adjustment of the position of the support 53 relative to the sheet slitter so as to accommodate bundles B of different lengths.

The bundle transfer mechanism includes a bundle support in the form of an endless conveyor 56 onto which the bundles B are pushed by the pusher 42. The endless conveyor belt 56, which is quite wide, as is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, is carried at the opposite ends thereof by rolls 57 and 58. It is to be noted that the roll 58 is driven by means of a suitable drive unit 60 which is capable of intermittent operation for moving the upper run of the conveyor 56 a predetermined increment each time the drive unit 60 is actuated.

With particular reference to FIG. 2, it will be seen I that when the conveyor belt 56 is driven, it will move a bundle of strips or sticks to the right-hand end thereof and the same will then fall off of the conveyor 56. In the falling of the bundle B off of the end of the conveyor 56, the same is guided by means of a fall guide plate 61 and the bundle is rotated so that it lands onto a support 62 with the strips thereof on edge. At this time it is pointed out that the support 62 is a continuation of an elongated support 63 which is inclined upwardly away from the support 53 and which support 62 is pivotally mounted as at 64 relative to the support 63 so that it may be swung downwardly to release a jam in the event a bundle B does not properly turn as it falls off of the conveyor 56.

It is to be noted that in the transferring of the bundles B from the bundle transfer mechanism to the support 62, which is a part of the strip sawing unit 1 1, the strips are automatically rotated from a flat stacked position to an on edge position ready to be engaged by suitable cut off and slotting saws which will be described hereinafter.

It is to be understood that the support 63 is carried by a suitable fixedly mounted supporting structure 66 and that the support 63 also functions as an edge guide to control the path of movement of the cut strips as they move up the incline as defined by the support 63.

The supporting structure 66 supports for rotation in any conventional manner a shaft 67 on which a plurality of slotting saws 68 are mounted. It is to be understood that the slotting saws 68 function to cut the slots or notches 6 in the partitions 5. Suitable dust collectors 70 cooperate with the saws 68 to effect the removal of dust resulting from the slotting or notching of the strips. There is also associated with the slotting saws 68 dust collector blades 71 which function to remove dust from the edges of the slot strips.

Upwardly of and to the right of the slotting saws 68 is one or more cut off saws 72. For example, if it is desired to cut each strip into two partitions, as shown in FIG. 1, there will be one centrally located saw 72. If the relative lengths of the strips and the resultant partitions is such that a single strip may be cut into three or more paritions, it is to be understood that there will be additional saws 7 2.

The saw 72 is mounted on a shaft 73 suitably carried by the support structure 66. The shafts 67 and 73 will be driven in any desired manner so as to rotate the saws 68 and 72 at proper rotational speeds for the diameters of the saws and the material being cut thereby.

The saw 72 has associated therewith a dust collector 74. Also, in order to remove the dust from the edges of the resultant partitions 5 after cutting, there is aligned with each saw 72 a dust collector blade 75. Suitable dust lines 76 and 77 are connected to the

dust collectors

70 and 74, respectively, for the removal of dust. Furthermore, underlying the support 63 is a trough-like dust collector 78 into which dust not otherwise collected will fall. This dust is removed by means of a vacuum line 80 which may be connected to the lines 76 and 77.

In order that the on edge strips or sticks may be properly supported as they pass up the inclined support 63, there is also associated with the support 63 in vertically spaced relation relative thereto upper guides 81. Further, in order to facilitate the alignment of the bundles of strips with the supports 62 and 63 and the guides 81, the conveyor 56 has associated therewith a back stop or guide 82 which is clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.

In order to effect movement of a bundle B of strips from the support 62 up onto the support 63, there is provided a first pusher which is generally identified by the numeral 83. The pusher 83 includes an extensible fluid motor 84 which is suitably carried by the support 53 and the piston rod thereof is suitably provided with fingers 85 which are directly engageable with the bundle B supported by the support 62. After the bundle B falls onto the support 62, the fluid motor 84 is actuated and shifts the bundle upwardly and to the right (FIG. 2) onto the support 63.

In order that the bundle pushed onto the support 63 may be retained in place on the support 63 and within the guides 81, a gate, generally identified by the number 86, is provided generally at the intersection between the supports 62 and 63. The gate 86 is formed of a pair of pivotally mounted gate members 87 and 88 which are automatically swingable apart as a bundle B is pushed from the support 62 onto the support 63. After the bundle has passed between the gate members 87,88 they will swing back, due to the resilient loading thereof in a manner not shown, to their position shown in FIG. 2 wherein they will engage the lowermost strip of a bundle and retain the same in an elevated position up the support 63.

It is to be understood that the first pusher 83 will push bundles B up onto the support 63 until the support 63 is filled or substantially filled with strips. In the pushing of the bundles of strips onto the support 63, the first ones of the strips will be eventually pushed through the saw or saws 68.

After the required number of bundles B are pushed onto the support 63, a second pusher, generally identified by the numeral 90, will be utilized to push the strips entirely through the saws 68 and 72 to the partition stacker 12. The pusher 90 includes a suitable track assembly 91 which may be supported from the support assembly 66 in any desired manner. The track assembly 91 has mounted thereon for guided movement a pusher assembly, generally identified by the numeral 92. Movement of the pusher assembly 92 on the track 91 is by way of a drive chain 93 which is carried by

drive sprockets

94 and 95 suitably mounted on the track 91. A motor 96 drives the sprocket 95. The chain 93 is suitably connected to the pusher assembly 92 to effect the reciprocation thereof on the track 91.

The pusher assembly 92 includes pushing elements which are normally disposed out of the path of the strips or sticks as they are moved up onto the support 63. The pushing elements, however, are carried by a vertically movable support 98 which, in turn, is connected to a piston rod of an extensible fluid cylinder 100. When a predetermined number of bundles B have been pushed onto the support 63, the extensible fluid cylinder 100 will be actuated to move the pusher members 97 down behind the group of strips. Now the pusher assembly 92 is ready to be moved up the track 91 so as to push the group of strips past and through the saws 68 and 72 and into the partition stacker 12.

It is to be understood that there is no need to interrupt the delivery of bundles B onto the support 62 during the movement of the group of strips through the saws 68 and 72. After the pusher assembly 92 has moved to its most elevated position, the pusher members 97 may be withdrawn and the same may be returned to its starting position of FIG. 2 without interferring with bundles B which may have been pushed up through the gate 86.

In the illustrated form of the invention, the partitions 5 are stacked onto a suitable truck 101. The truck 101 may be elevated by any type of lifting mechanism, such as the illustrated elevator 102. In order to assure the guiding of partitions onto the truck 101 in overlying relation to either a bottom wall thereof or a next lower stack of partitions, guide fingers 103, which are aligned with the guide elements of the support 63 are provided. The support for the guide fingers 103 is schematically illustrated as including a support unit 104. In addition, the support unit 104 is provided with a drive motor 106 which is coupled to suitable combined support and drive roll assemblies 107 and 108 for the purpose of extending and retracting the fingers 103.

In FIG. 2 the fingers 103 are illustrated in position for receiving a next row of partitions. When the partitions are moved into place on the truck 101 by means of the second pusher 90, they are guided by the fingers 103. After the partitions have been stacked on the guide fingers 103, the fingers 103 are withdrawn allowing the partitions to drop into position on the floor of the truck 101 or on the previously deposited layer of partitions 5. The truck 101 is then lowered by means of the elevator 102 until the partitions are down below a drop side 110 of the truck 101 and are held in place thereby. The fingers 103 then move horizontally back to a starting position similar to that shown in FIG. 2.

It is also pointed out here that while the entire truck 101, with the exception of the drop side 110, has been illustrated as being moved vertically by the elevator 102, it is to be understood that it is feasible for the truck 101 to remain seated on the floor and for the truck to have a vertically movable bottom. In such event, only the bottom would be moved vertically by the elevator 102.

OPERATION The operation of the partition cutter 7 is automatic. Sheets S are automatically fed by the sheet feeder 8 onto the table 13. After the preselected number of sheets has been stacked on the table 13, operation of the sheet feeder 8 is temporarily discontinued. The guides associated with the table 13, including the angle guides 14 are retracted. The pusher 42 is then actuated to move the fingers 52 first down to the top of the table 13 and then to the right pushing the stack of sheets S through the saws 35. At this time the conveyor 56 is stationary. As a result, the bundles B are delivered onto the conveyor 56 in the positions illustrated in FIG. 4. It is also pointed out at this time that it is not necessary for the last bundle formed from a previous stacked of sheets to have moved off of the conveyor and depending upon the relative widths of the sheets S and the length of the conveyor 56, one or more bundles B may still rest on the right hand end of the conveyor 56, as viewed in FIG. 2.

After the stack of sheets S has been cut into the bundles B and the bundles B have been deposited onto the conveyor 56, the pusher 42 returns to its normal position and the fingers 52 are again elevated by means of an extensible fluid cylinder 111 (FIG. 3) which serves to support and vertically position the fingers 52. Thereafter, the sheet feeder 8 will again automatically operate.

No attempt has been made here to specifically disclose automatic controls for the operation of the sheet feeder 8, the pusher 42 or the conveyor 56. It is to be readily apparent, however, that suitable position switches may be utilized to provide for the aforementioned automatic operation.

Returning now to FIG. 2, it is to be understood that upon each operation of the conveyor 56, the conveyor 56 will be advanced sufficiently to move one of the bundles B off of the right end thereof. After the bundle B falls off of the conveyor 56 onto the support 62, movement of the conveyor 62 is temporarily interrupted. Then the first pusher 83 moves the bundle B off of the support 62 through the gate 86 and onto the support 63.

After each bundle is moved off of the support 62 onto the support 63 and the pusher 83 has been returned to its at rest position, the conveyor 56 is again actuated to position another bundle on the support 62. This sequence is continued until a predetermined number of bundles B has been moved up onto the support 63. At this time, without any interruption as to the delivering of the bundles onto the support 62, the second pusher90 is utilized to push the entire group of bundles off of the support 63 onto the truck .101. As indicated above, even while the group of bundles is being pushed through the saws 68 and 72 and off of the support 63, other bundles may be pushed from the support 62 onto the support 63.

At this time it is pointed out that it is merely necessary to time the pushing of the bundles B onto the conveyor 56 such that the previously positioned bundles will be out of the way of the newly formed bundles and that the conveyor 56 is temporarily stopped so that there will be no partial turning of the bundles as they are pushed onto the conveyor. A suitable interlock (not shown) may be provided for controlling this operation.

It is also to be understood that the operation of the elevator 102 as well as the means for positioning the fingers 103 may be automatic in accordance with the pushing of partitions 5 onto the truck 101.

It is also to be understood that the various operations will be timed so that no part of the machine will be waiting for an operation to be performed by another part of the machine except for the intermittent operation of the sheet feeder, the sheet slitter and the conveyor 56.

It will be readily apparent that the partition cutter is in no way restricted to the partitions illustrated in FIG. 1. The illustrated partitions are merely illustrated samples of the partitions which may be automatically formed by the partition forming machine.

Although only a preferred embodiment ofthe partition cutter has been specifically illustrated and described herein, it is to be understood that minor variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed as new:

1. A partition forming apparatus comprising a first apparatus for simultaneously cutting a stack of sheets into a bundle of strips of partition width, second apparatus for sequentially rotating said bundle of strips to an on edge supported position, and third apparatus for slotting said strips while in said on edge position.

2. The partition forming apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first apparatus includes a plurality of saws and means for moving the stack of sheets through said saws, and said second apparatus including a conveyor extending transversely of the direction of the stack of sheets for advancing bundles of strips serially.

3. The partition forming apparatus of claim 2 wherein said conveyor terminates in a generally vertical fall whereat each bundle is automatically rotated to said on edge supported position.

4. The partition forming apparatus of claim 3 wherein said third apparatus includes first pusher means for moving each bundle of strips delivered by said conveyor serially away from said vertical fall to form part of a larger group, and a second pusher for pushing a group of on edge strips.

5. The partition forming apparatus of claim 4 wherein said third apparatus includes at least one further saw positioned in the path of movement of strips moved by said second pusher to effect a cutting of said strips.

6. The partition forming apparatus of claim 5 wherein holding means for a group of on edge strips is provided, said holding means extending beyond said further saw whereby said first pusher will move a portion of the group of on edge strips into engagement with said further saw prior to engagement of the group of on edge strips by said second pusher.

7. The partition forming apparatus of claim 6 wherein said holding means includes gate means between said vertical fall and said further saw and within the operating path of said second pusher.

8. The partition forming apparatus of claim 7 wherein said second pusher has a starting position generally aligned with said gate.

9. The partition forming apparatus of claim 4 together with gate means for retaining a group of on edge strips for engagement by said second pusher.

10. The partition forming apparatus of claim 9 wherein said gate means include a pivotally mounted gate member automatically swingable to an out-of-theway position in response to movement of a bundle of strips by said first pusher.

11. The partition forming member of claim 4 wherein said conveyor and said first pusher are of the intermittently operating type and are alternately operated.

12. The partition forming member of claim 4 together with partition stacking means cooperable with said second pusher.

13. A method of forming partitions comprising the steps of providing a stack of sheets, simultaneously dividing said stack of sheets into adjacent bundles of strips, moving all of the bundles of strips onto a support, serially moving the bundles of strips off of the support and simultaneous with the removal of each bundle of strips from the support rotating each bundle of strips so as to be supported in an on edge relation, and then passing the on edge strips through a series of saws and cutting the same.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the rotating of each bundle of strips is accomplished solely by per- 7 mitting each bundle of strips to fall off of the support under controlled conditions.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the movement of the bundles of strips while on the support is substantially normal to the movement of the bundles of strips onto the support.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the dividing of the stack of sheets into bundles of strips is accomplished by moving the stack of sheets through a series of cutters, and the movement of the bundles of strips onto the support is a part of the movement through the cutters.

17. The method of claim l3wherein each bundle of on edge strips is separately moved towards the saw until a large group of on edge strips is accumulated, and thereafter the large group of on edge strips is simultaneously moved relative to the saw.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the large group of on edge strips is moved into a stacked handling position relative to other large groups of like on edge strips as part of the movement thereof through a series of saws.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the on edge strips move up an incline to the saws, and after each bundle of strips is separately moved towards the saw, the lowermost strip is held against descending down the incline.

20. The method of claim 13 wherein the formed partitions are automatically stacked.

Claims

10. The partition forming apparatus of claim 9 wherein said gate means include a pivotally mounted gate member automatically swingable to an out-of-the-way position in response to movement of a bundle of strips by said first pusher.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the rotating of each bundle of strips is accomplished solely by permitting each bundle of strips to fall off of the support under controlled conditions.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein each bundle of on edge strips is separately moved towards the saw until a large group of on edge strips is accumulated, and thereafter the large group of on edge strips is simultaneously moved relative to the saw.