US3804403A

US3804403A - Apparatus for stopping the flow of sheets of material

Info

Publication number: US3804403A
Application number: US00311477A
Authority: US
Inventors: T Vogt
Original assignee: Owens Illinois Inc
Current assignee: OI Glass Inc
Priority date: 1972-12-04
Filing date: 1972-12-04
Publication date: 1974-04-16
Anticipated expiration: 1991-04-16

Abstract

Apparatus for individually stopping sheets of material flowing into a sheet stacker. In the manufacture of corrugated paperboard, a plurality of individual sheets are conveyed side by side in an overlapping shingle pattern to a bundle stacker for removal. When bundles are completed, brake members engage the sheets to increase the overlapping of the shingle pattern to allow accumulation of sheets while the bundles are removed. Individualized gates mounted on the brake members stop the flow of sheets. The gates take the form of pivotally mounted finger members operated by a fluid motor. The finger members are pivoted into a sheet stopping position by the fluid motor when the brake members engage the sheets. The fluid motor is controlled by the cycling of the bundle stacker. Additionally, some of the gates may be provided with a biasing control system which will prevent the finger members from assuming a sheet stopping position when no sheets are present at the position controlled by that particular gate.

Description

United States Patent 1191 Vogt 1451 Apr. 16, 1974 APPARATUS FOR STOPPING THE FLOW OF SHEETS OF MATERIAL [75] Inventor: Thomas E. Vogt, Toledo, Ohio [73] Assignee: Owens-Illinois, Inc., Toledo, Ohio [22] Filed: Dec. 4, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 311,477

[52] US. Cl ..2 1/1 2, 271/229 [51] Int. Cl. B65h 5/24, B65h 9/14 [58] Field of Search 271/46, 50, 47, 56, 6O

[56] References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,708,162 1/1973 Skudlarek 271 47 3,373,666 3/1968 Crampton... 271/46 X 1,068,477 7/1913 Bakke, 271/60 3,683,758 8/1972 Feldkamper.... 271/46 X 3,118,663 1/1964 Logan 271/60 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Great Britain 271/60 Primary Examine r Evon C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-James W. Miller Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Steve M. McLary; E. J.

Holler 5 7] ABSTRACT Apparatus for individually stopping sheets of material flowing into a sheet stacker. In the manufacture of corrugated paperboard, a plurality of individual sheets are conveyed side by side in an overlapping shingle pattern to a bundle stacker for removal. When bundles are completed, brake members engage the sheets to increase the overlapping of the shingle pattern to allow accumulation of sheets while the bundles are removed. Individualized gates mounted on the brake members stop the flow of sheets. The gates take the form of pivotally mounted finger members operated by a fluid motor. The finger members are pivoted into a sheet stopping position by the fluid motor when the brake members engage the sheets. The fluid motor is controlled by the cycling of the bundle stacker. Additionally, some of the gates may be provided with a biasing control system which will prevent the finger members from assuming a sheet stopping position when no sheets are present at the position controlled by that particular gate.

12 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEUAPR 151914 3.804.403

' sum 1 or 4 FIG. 3 k

APPARATUS FOR STOPPING THE FLOW OF SHEETS OF MATERIAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention'generally relates to apparatus for handling sheets of material. More specifically, this invention relates to apparatus for handling sheets of corrugated paperboard. Most particularly, this invention relates to apparatus for stopping the flow of sheets of corrugated paperboard to a sheet stacking mechanism while a completed stack of sheets is removed therefrom.

In the handling of sheets of corrugated paperboard, it is well known in the prior art to position a gate in front of the flow of sheets to stop the flow while a completed stack is removed from a sheet stacker. However, the prior art gates were usually a single gate which extended acrossthe entire width of the conveyor carrying the sheets toward the sheet stacker. This arrangement was less than satisfactory, because the position of the gate was such that it was difficult to positively engage the sheets to hold them. Thus, sheets frequently bypassed the gate leading to erratic operation of the sheet stacker. In addition, the single gate did not allow compensation for differences in individual sheets across the width of the sheet conveyor. My invention is a plurality ofindividual gates for stopping the flow of sheets, the

individual gates acting to overcome the problems presented by the single gate of the prior art. An example of the single gate of the prior art may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,024. 1 1

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is an improvement in an apparatus for feeding substantially flat sheets of material. In the apparatus, a plurality of sheets of material are advanced on a continuously moving conveyor in an overlying pattern with at least two sheets abreast to a sheet stacking mechanism. A brake means is periodically brought into contact with the sheets of material to effect an increase in the overlap of one sheet on another to thereby provide time to allow removal of completed bundles of sheets from the sheet stacking mechanism. The improvement in the apparatus comprises plural gate means mounted on the brake means for stopping the advance of the sheets when the sheets are engaged by the brake means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of the apparatus of the present invention in its operational environment;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view ofa single one of the individualized gates of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 2, on a reduced scale;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the control circuit of the present invention in the inactive-paper present condition;

FIG. 5 is the diagram of FIG. 4 showing the activepaper present condition;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the control circuit of the present invention in the inactive-paper not present condition; and

FIG. 7 is the diagram of FIG. 6 showing the activepaper not present condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates a stream-flow interrupter 10, which is shown in detail in co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 123,557, filed Mar. 12, 1971, now U.S. Pat. 3,708,162, and having an assignee in common with the assignee of the present invention. The teachings of application U.S. Ser. No. 123,557, now U.S. Pat. 3,708,168, are herein incorporated by reference. The stream-flow interrupter 10 is used to interrupt the flow of a stream of flat articles, such as sheets of corrugated paperboard 12, in order to allow bundles of the corrugated paperboard 12 to be removed from a stacking station. The flow of material is from left to right, as seen in FIG. 1, and the stacking station is not shown. The sheets of paperboard 12 are conveyed along an endless moving belt-type conveyor 14. The sheets of paperboard 12 on the conveyor 14 are in a shingled pattern, that is one sheet is traveling partially overlying another sheet. When the flow of the sheets 12 is interrupted, the distance one sheet overlies another is increased as the sheets press forwardl and attempt to continue to move, although their movement has been stopped. In the prior art, the movement of the sheets was stopped by interposing a single gate at the end of the conveyor 14 just before the stacking mechanism. However, as previously explained, the use of a single gate has not proven to be successful. Thus, my invention resides in providing each of the sheet-shingling mechanisms of the stream-flow interrupter 10 with an individualized gate for stopping the flow of sheets 12. These individualized gates are-arrayed across the width of the conveyor 14 and are designated in FIG. 1 as

elements

15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 2l. As is well known to those skilled in the art of handling sheets of material, the width of the conveyor 14 may vary in different manufacturing operations. Thus, the provision of seven individualized gates is simply an example, and there may be more or less than seven individualized gate mechanisms, depending upon the: particular circumstances. When it is desired to cease feeding of sheets 12, individualized brake members 22 are dropped into position just above the sheets 12 to allow the shingling effect to take place. The brake members 22 are elongated U-shaped channels with the open end of the channels facing upward. The operation of the brake members 22 is explained in detail in pending application U.S. Ser. No. 123,557.

The conveyor 14 is supported, in part, by two vertical uprights 24 and 25. Attached to the upright 24 is a valve plate 26. The valve plate 26 is preferably rectangularly shaped and mounted horizontally on the vertical upright 24. Attached to the valve plate 26 are five two-way valves 28. The valves 28 are all identical and are of the type which are spring-loaded to give one preferred flow direction and have a manually operable knob 29 to switch the flow through them to the other direction. Also mounted on the valve plate 26 is a manifold 30, which contains a fluid under pressure. Each of the valves 28 is connected to the manifold 30 with a suitable pipe 32. Fluid under pressure, preferably highpressure air, is furnished to the manifold 30 through an inlet pipeline 33 connected to a main inlet pipe 34 from a source of air not shown. Each of the valves 28 has an outlet pipeline 36, whose connection will be shown later with reference to FIGS. 4 through 7. Also mounted on the valve plate 26 is a solenoid-operated four-way valve 38. The valve 38 has a single inlet pipe 40 connected to the main inlet line 34. The four-way valve 38 has two

outlet pipes

42 and 43. The first outlet pipe 42 is connected to a first manifold 44, and the second outlet pipe 43 is connected to a second manifold 45. The

manifolds

44 and 45 extend across substantially the entire width of the conveyor 14 and are attached to the two uprights 24 and 25. The outlet piping from the

manifolds

44 and 45 has been omitted in FIG. 1 for clarity. That is, there are a plurality of outlets from the

manifolds

44 and 45, and it is believed that showing each of these individual outlets would confuse the illustration of FIG. 1. The connections from the

manifolds

44 and 45 will be discussed with reference to FIGS. 4 through 7. From the description to be given therein, it is believed that one skilled in the art could readily understand the connections from the

manifolds

44 and 45. A final input to the solenoid valve 38 is an electrical line 46, which turns the solenoid valve 38 on and off. The valve 38 is of the type such that a spring holds the valve 38 in one flow configuration, and when the solenoid portion of the valve is energized, the valve is shifted to present another flow configuration through the valve 38.

Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the mechanical operation of the individualized gate mechanisms through 21 will be explained. As a preliminary point, it should be understood that the mechanism illustrated in FIGS.

2 and 3 is the gate mechanism 17. The mechanical mechanism is identical for all the mechanisms 15 through 21, but the control functions of the first two

mechanisms

15 and 16 varies from those of the others. A lifting arm 48 is pivotally connected to the brake member 22 through a clevis mount 50 attached to the brake member 22 and a pivot pin 51 which extends through the clevis mount and the lifting arm 48. The lifting arm 48 may be raised to the position shown in phantom lines'in FIG. 2 to remove the brake members 22 from the stream of the sheets 12. With specific reference now to the elements which make up the individualized gate mechanism 17, an L-shaped rock arm 52 is pivotally mounted on the pivot pin 51, with a leg portion of the rock arm 52 extending upwardly. The foot portion of the rock arm 52 is of sufficient length to clear the end of the brake member 22. Mounted on the opposite side of the lifting arm 48 from the rock arm 52 is a substantially rectangular rock arm 54. The rock arm 54 is of substantially identical configuration to the lower, or foot portion of the L-shaped rock arm' 52. This may best be seen by reference to FIG. 3. The two

rock arms

52 and 54 are tied together as a unit with a connector plate 56. Thus, movement of the L-shaped rock arm 52 will also cause the movement of the arm 54. Mounted on the extending portion of the two

rock arms

52 and 54 is a downwardly depending finger member 58. The finger member 58 is of sufficient length to extend below'the bottom of the brake member 22 and come into contact with the horizontal plane of travel of the sheets 12 when it is fully extended. In addition, the finger member 58 is so constructed that its width is greater than the width of the brake member 22. This is not of extremely critical importance, but it has been found that the sheets 12 may best be controlled if the width of the finger member 58 is somewhat greater than that of the brake members 22. Attached to the side of the brake member 22, adjacent the L-shaped rock arm 52, is a vertically extending mounting plate 60. A fluid motor 62 has its blind end pivotally attached to the upper portion of the mounting plate 60. The fluid motor 62 serves as a power means for moving the individualized gates 15-21 into and out of the path of travel of the sheets 12. An extensible operating rod 64 of the fluid motor 62 carries on its extreme end portion a clevis mounting bracket 66. The clevis mounting bracket 66 is pivotally attached to the upper portion of the leg of the L-shaped rock arm 52. Thus, it should be clear that extension and retraction of the operating rod 64 will cause the two

rocks arms

52 and 54 to be pivoted by the motion of the operating rod 64. This, in turn, will pivot the finger member 58, since it is attached to the

rock arms

52 and 54. Also attached to the mounting plate 60 is a four-way valve 68. The valve 68 is of the type which is spring-loaded in one direction of flow and is operable by the introduction of air to overcome the spring bias to redirect the flow from the valve 68. The valve 68 has a first inlet pipeline 69 from the manifold 44 and a second inlet pipeline 70 from the manifold 45. A third inlet pipeline 72, connected to the four-way valve 68, provides a passage for air which shifts the flow-direction position of the fourway valve 68. The four-way valve 68 has three outlet pipelines from it. A first outlet pipeline 74 is connected to a pipeline 75, which is connected to the rod end of the fluid motor 62. A second outlet pipeline 76, from the four-way valve 68, is connected to the blind end of the fluid motor 62. A third outlet pipe 78, from the valve 68, is connected to a check valve 79. An outlet pipeline 80, from the check valve 79, is connected to the inlet pipeline 75 to the fluid motor 62.

It may also be seen in FIG. 2 that a means for adjusting the lowered position of the finger member 58 is provided. An elongated bolt 57 is threadably engaged in a threaded hole extending through the connector plate 56. The length of the bolt 57 is'such that it can bottom on the web of the brake member 22. When this occurs, the motion of the finger member 58 will also stop, since it is tied to the connector plate 56. This allows adjustment of the active or lowered position of the finger member 58 for differing thicknesses of sheets 12. An upper position of the finger member 58 resulting from extending the bolt 57 toward thebrake member 22 is shown in phantom lines in FIG. 2 as 58A. A stop nut 59 holds the bolt 57 in whatever position that may be selected. 7

Before proceeding to a discussion of FIGS. 4 through 7, which explain the functioning of the individualized gate mechanismslS through 21, it is necessary to understand the operation of the corrugating process which utilizes the stream-flow interrupter l0. Normally, the entire width of the conveyor 14 is not utilized for conveying the sheets 12. That is, the sheets 12, which are being transported, may extend across only half of the width of the conveyor 14. The conveyor 14 is normally wide enough to accept the entire output of a corrugating machine, but when the total width of the output corrugated material is slit into individual widths, some of the widths may be transferred to a conveyor, such as the conveyor 14, which is above the conveyor 14. This is done in order to allow the width of the sheet of corrugated material produced by a corrugator to be slit longitudinally into sheets which have differing widths. Therefore, some of the individualized gate mechanisms 15 through 21 will not have-any sheets 12 to stop. Usually, the conveyor 14 is operated in such a manner as to have sheets always under either the first two mechanisms and 16 or the outside two mechanisms and 21. In this particular example, it is assumed that sheets 12 will always be under the first two

individualizedgate mechanisms

15 and 16. Therefore, these two

particular mechanisms

15 and 16 will not have a four-way valve 68 nor a two-way valve 28 associated with. them. Their functioning may be completely controlled. by the use of the solenoid valve 38. How ever, if desired,these mechanisms may be provided with the aforementioned valves and can be operated in the manner as will be explained with respect to the other mechanisms 17 through 21.

With reference now to FIGS. 4 through 7, the cycling of the individualized gate mechanisms 15 through 21 will be discussed. The solenoid valve 38 is the main control valve for all of the mechanisms 15 through 21. The solenoid valve cycling is controlled by an electrical signal which is furnished to the solenoid valve 38 through the electric line 46. The signal itself is generated in a bundle stacking apparatus, which is the subject of a co-pending US. patent application U.S. Ser. No. 123,325, filed Mar. 11, 197i, and'having an assignee in common with the assignee of the present invention. The teachings of application U.S. Ser. No. 123,325 are hereby incorporated by reference. The bundle stacking apparatus is the device which receives sheets of corrugated paperboard 12 from the conveyor 14. It is the next device in line from the conveyor 14. The signal generated in the bundle stacking apparatus is such that, so long as sheets 12 are being fed into the bundle stacking apparatus to form bundles, an electrical signal is present in the line 46 maintaining the solenoid valve 38 in the flow position shown in FIG. 4. In this condition, air is furnished through the main inlet pipeline 34 to the inlet pipeline 40 connected to the solenoid valve 38. Exiting from the solenoid valve 38, the pipeline 42 is connected to the manifold 44, and the pipeline 43 is connected to the manifold 45. With the flow condition shown in FIG. 4, the manifold 44 is pressurized, and the manifold 45 acts as an exhaust reservoir for the fluid motors 62. The manifold 44 is directly connected to the rod end of the fluid motors 62 for the

gate mechanisms

15 and 16. Likewise, the manifold 45 is directly connected to the blind end of the fluid motors 62 for the

mechanisms

15 and 16. The mechanisms 17 through 21, however, are connected to the

manifolds

44 and 45 through the valve 68, as previously discussed. A plurality of outlet pipelines 69 connect the manifold 44 to a first inlet of the valves 68. Likewise, a plurality of pipelines 70 connect the manifold 45 to a second inlet of the valve 68. The configuration shown in FIG. 4 is the configuration of the valve 68 for the condition when there will be sheets of material 12 to be stopped by the gate mechanisms 17 through 21. In this condition, an air signal is furnished via the control air inlet 72 to the valve 68 from the two-way valve 28. The two-way valves 28. are set in such; a configuration that air will be admitted to the control side of the valve 68 and will hold the valve 68 in the flow conditions shown in FIG. 4 until the mechanical operating knob 29 for the valve 28 is reset by an operator. Thus, FIG. 4 shows the conditionwhich prevails during the time that sheets of material 12 are being fed into the bundle stacking apparatus. Air flows from the manifold 44 through the inlet pipeline 69, through the valve 68, through the first outlet pipeline 74 fromthe valve 68, and through the pipeline 75 into the rod end of the fluid motor 62. This flow of pressurized air holds a slidably-mounted piston 82 contained within the fluid motor 62 in a retracted position toward the blind end of the fluid motor 62. The piston, of course, controls the functioning of the operating rod 64, and the operating rod 64 is thus retracted, holding the finger portion 58, of the gate mechanism 17, in the upward or retracted position, as

shown in phantom lines in FIG.2. The second outlet from the valve 68, connected to the pipeline 76, is connected to the blind end of the fluid motor 62. As the flow arrows clearly show, this particular path provides an exhaust path for air to be exhausted through the blind end of the fluid motor 62, as required by the introduction of pressurized air to the rod end of the fluid motor 62. The third outlet of the valve 68 is closed at this time, and air is further prevented from flowing toward this outlet by virtue of the check valve 79, which is interposed in circuit between the pressurized air in the pipeline 74 and the pipeline 80, which is connected with the

pipelines

74 and 75.

FIG. 5 illustrates the flow conditions prevailing when it is desired to cease the feeding of sheets of material 12 into the bundle building apparatus. At this time, the electrical signal carried by the line 46 ceases, and the spring within the valve 38 shifts the: valve 38 to the flow position shown in FIG. 5. In this configuration, the pressurized air exits from the second outlet of the valve 38, pressurizes the manifold 45, which in turn furnishes air to the valve 68 through the pipeline 70. The second outlet of the valve 68 remains connected to the blind end of the fluid motor 62 through the pipeline 76. With pressurized air now furnished to the blind end of the fluid motor 62, the piston 82 of the fluid motor 62 will be forced to the right, as seen in FIG. 5, thus extending the operating rod 64 and causing the finger portion 58 to pivot downwardly and thus stop any sheets of material 12 which are in its path. The pipeline 75 is connected back to the manifold 44 through the pipeline 74, the valve 68 and the pipeline 69, with the manifold 44 now serving as an exhausting manifold for the air forced out of the fluid motor 62. This air then exhausts through the valve 38 by passing through the pipeline 42. When it is desired to resume feeding of sheets of material 12 to the bundle stacking mechanism, the electrical signal is once again resumed in the electrical line 46 and the valve 38 is shifted to the flow position shown in FIG. 4, with the resultant retraction of the piston 82 and the operating rod 64 causing the finger members 58 to be pivoted into their retracted position out of the path of travel of the sheets of material 12. Thus, it should be clear that the solenoid valve 38, connected to a source of fluid under pressure, the

manifolds

44 and 45, the electrical line 46 which controls the solenoid valves 38, and the associated interconnecting pipelines serve as a control means connected to the fluid motor 62 for cycling the fluid motor 62 in response to the removal of completed bundles of sheets.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate the situation which prevails when it is desired that one or more of the individualized gate mechanisms 17 through 21 be prevented from functioning, due to the absence of paper in the position controlled by that particular gate mechanism. It should be emphasized again that this function is controlled by means of the

valves

28, 68 and the check valve 79, but the function is not an absolute requirement for the present to be stopped by the gate. However, in the general case, the functioning of the individualized gate mechanisms will not seriously interfere with the operation of the stream flow interrupter 10, even though sheets 12 are not present at a particular position. Thus,

the description to be given with respect to FIGS. 6 and 7 should be considered an optional feature which may or may not be used. The valve 28 has been shifted from the flow configuration shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 to the flow configuration of FIG. 6 by operation of its operating knob 29. Thus, there is no flow of air through the valve 28 and out the pipeline 36 to the valve 68. The valves 28 thus act as a switch means connected to the valves 68 for supplying a control signal to the valves 68 at the discretion of the machine operator. The cessation of flow to the valve 68 allows the spring within the valve 68 to shift the flow pattern through the valve 68 to that shown in FIG. 6. In this configuration, the first outlet port of the valve 68 through the pipeline 74 is blocked. The second outlet port of the valve 68 through the pipeline 76 is connected to the blind end of the fluid motor 62. The third outlet of the valve 68 is connected through the pipeline 78 to the check valve 79. In this condition, air is furnished through the valve 38, to the blind side of the fluid motor 62 from the

pipelines

76, 69, 42 and the manifold 44. This is the condition which prevails, as will be recalled from FIGS. 4 and 5, when the individualized gate mechanisms are in a retracted position and paper is being fed into the bundle stacking mechanism. Thus, it would appear that the operating rod 64 of the fluid motor 62 would be extended, which is contrary to the position that the operating rod 64 should assume in this condition. However, careful consideration of the flow paths available will show that the rod end of the fluid motor 62 cannot exhaust through the pipeline 75, as would be required to allow the operating rod 64 to extend. That is, the pipeline 75 is connected to the pipeline 74 and the pipeline 80. As pointed out, the pipeline 74 is connected to a port of the valve 68, which is blocked. Thus, there can be no flow through the pipeline 74. The pipeline 80 is connected to the check valve 79. The check valve 79 allows flow only in the direction away from the valve 68. Thus, as the piston 82 moves to the right, as seen in FIG. 6, and attempts to expel the air from in front of it, the check valve 79 will close and resist the movement of this air. The net result will be that the piston 82 will assume some intermediate position within the fluid motor 62 when a balance of pressures on both sides of it are reached. The operating rod 64 thus assumes an indeterminate position during this period of time.

When the control signal furnished to the valve 38 through the electrical line 46 ceases, as is the case when cessation of feeding of sheets 12 to the bundle stacking mechanism is required, the flow path shown in FIG. 7 results. The valve 38 is shifted to allow the highpressure air to flow through the pipeline 43 connected to the second outlet port of the valve 38. From the pipeline 43, the air pressurizes the manifold 45 and is fed through the pipelines 70 into the valves 68. Those valves 68 which have been shifted, as shown in FIG. 6, to the inaction position, allow this pressurized air to flow out through the outlet pipe v78 connected to the third outlet port of the valve 68. Air flowing through this outlet pipe 78 will pass by the check valve 79, since, as previously pointed out, the check valve 79 allows flow away from the valve 68 but stops flow toward the valve 68. The pipeline 80 connects the check valve 79 to the pipeline 75, which is connected to the rod end of the fluid motor 62. Thus, it may be seen that the high-pressure air will flow through the pipeline into the rod end of the fluid motor 62 and cause the operating rod 64 to be retracted. The retraction of the operating rod 65 then, of course, pivots the finger member 58 of the mechanism upward and out of the active position. Thus, even though the shifting of the valve 38 normally causes the operation of the finger member 58 into a sheet stopping position, with the valve 28 shifted and the valve 68 shifted in response thereto, the actuation of the mechanism actually causes the finger member 58 to be retracted positively out of a sheet engaging position. Thus, there is no interference whatsoever with any sheets 12 adjacent to a position which has no material present in this configuration. It should be noted that the pipeline 76 connected to the blind end of the fluid motor 62 connects through the valve 68 to the pipeline 69, the manifold 44 and the pipeline 42, which is connected to the valve 38. The valve 38 allows a free flow path, and thus the air which is behind the pistons 82 is exhausted through the valve 38 in this particular situation. Therefore, the

valves

68, 28 and 79 and their associated interconnecting piping serve as a biasing means in fluid circuit between the

manifolds

44 and 45 and the fluid motor 62 for holding selected individualized gates in an inoperative position when there are no sheets 12 present at the location controlled by the selected individualized gate in question.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for feeding substantially flat sheets of material, wherein a plurality of sheets of material are advanced on a continuously moving conveyor in an overlying pattern with at least two sheets abreast to a sheet stacking mechanism, and wherein a brake means is periodically brought into contact with said sheets of material to effect an increase in the overlap of one sheet on another to thereby provide time to allow removal of completed bundles of sheets from said sheet stacking mechanism, the improvement which comprises: plural gate means mounted on said brake means for stopping the advance of said sheets when said sheets are engaged by said brake means, said gate means including a plurality of individualized gates, arrayed transversely with respect to said conveyor in a spacedapart configuration; power means attached to each of said individualized gates for independently moving each of said individualized gates into and out of the path of travel of said sheets; and control means connected to said power means for cycling said power means in response to the removal of completed bundles of sheets.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said brake means includes a plurality of elongated brake members arrayed transversely with respect to said conveyor in a spaced-apart configuration, and a plurality of pivotally mounted lifting arms attached to each of said brake members for raising and lowering said brake members; and wherein each of said individualized gates com- 9 prises, in combination: a first rock arm pivotally mounted on said lifting arm and extending beyond the end of said brake member; a second rock arm pivotally mounted on said lifting arm on the opposite side thereof from said first rock arm and extending beyond the end of said brake member; a connector plate attached to both said first and second rock arms, whereby movement of one of said rock arms will also move the other; and a downwardly depending finger member attached to the free ends of both of said first and said second rock arms, movement of said rock arms acting to move said finger member from a raised position clear of said sheets to and from a lowered position interfering with the path of travel of said sheets.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said power means comprises: a reciprocating fluid motor, having a slidable piston contained within said fluid motor and an extensible operating rod attached to said piston at one end thereof, the free end of said operating rod extending beyond said fluid motor to define the rod end thereof with the opposite end of said fluid motor being defined as the blind end thereof.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, further including: means for pivotally mounting the blind end of said fluid motor on said brake member; and means for pivotally attaching the free end of said operating rod to one of said rock arms at a point remote from the pivot point for said rock arm.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, further including means for adjusting the lowered position of said finger member.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said connector plate has a threaded hole extending vertically through it, and wherein said means for adjusting the lowered position of said finger member comprises a threaded bolt engaged with said threaded hole in said connector plate, said bolt being threadable adjustable in said hole to change the point at which saidbolt will contact said brake member.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said power means comprises: a reciprocating fluid motor, having a slidable piston contained within said fluid motor, and an extensible operating rod attached to said piston at one end thereof, the free end of said operating rod extending beyond said fluid motor to define the rod end thereof with the opposite end of said fluid motor being defined as the blind end thereof.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said control means includes: a source of fluid under pressure; a fourway fluid directional control valve, solenoid operated in one direction and spring biased in the other direction, having its inlet connected to said source of fluid under pressure; a first fluid manifold; a first outlet pipeline connected to a first outlet of said solenoid operated valve and to said first manifold; a'second fluid V manifold; a second outlet pipeline connected to a second outlet of said solenoid operated valve and to said second manifold; a plurality of pipelines connecting said first manifold to the rod end of each of said fluid motors; a plurality of pipelines connecting said second manifold to the blind end of each of said fluid motors; and means electrically connecting said solenoid operated valve to said sheet stacking mechanism for energizing said solenoid operated valve so longas a stack of 10 sheets is being formed, the porting of said solenoid operated valve being such that said source of fluid under pressure is connected to said first manifold when said solenoid operated valve is energized and connected to said second manifold when said solenoid operated valve is de-energized. I

9. The apparatus of claim 8, further including biasing means, interposed in fluid circuit between said first and second manifolds and said fluid motors, for holding selected individualized gates in an inoperative position when there are no sheets present at the location controlled by said selected individualized gates.

10. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said biasing means comprises: a plurality of four-way fluid directional control valves, air pilot operated in one flow direction and spring biased in the other flow direction, one valve being provided for each of said biased individualized gates; a plurality of pipelines connecting said first manifold to a first inlet of said air pilot operated valves; a plurality of pipelines connecting said second manifold to a second inlet of said air pilot operated valves; a plurality of first biasing outlet pipelines connecting a first outlet of said air pilot operated valves to the rod ends of said fluid motors; a plurality of second biasing outlet pipelines connecting a second outlet of said air pilot operated valves to the blind ends of said fluid motors; a plurality of third biasing outlet pipelines connected to a third outlet of said air pilot operated valves; a plurality of check valves, positioned to allow flow only from said third outlets of said air pilot operated valves, connected to said third biasing outlet pipelines; a plurality of cross-connecting pipelines connecting the outlet of said check valves intosaid first biasing outlet pipelines; and switch means connected to said air pilot operated valves for supplying a control signal to said air pilot operated valves at the discretion of the operator of said feeding apparatus, the porting of said air pilot operated valves being such that said first manifold is connected to said first biasing outlet pipelines and said second manifold is connected to said second biasing outlet piplines so long as said control signal is present, and said first manifold is connected to said second biasing outlet pipelines and said second manifold is connected to said third biasing outlet pipelines when said control signal is not present.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said switch means comprises: a plurality of two-way fluid directional control valves, spring biased in one flow direction and manually switchable to the other flow direction, one two-way valve being provided for each of said plurality of air pilot-operated valves; a plurality of control pipelines connecting the outlets of said two-way valves to a control inlet port of said air pilot operated valves; means for connecting said source of fluid under pressure to the inlet of each of said two-way valves; and a manually operable knob attached to each of said twoway valves operable to individually stop and start the flow of fluid through said control pipelines.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, further including, biasing means for holding selected ones of said individualized gates in an inoperative position when there are no sheets present at the location controlled by said selected individualized gates.

Claims

1. In an apparatus for feeding substantially flat sheets of material, wherein a plurality of sheets of material are advanced on a continuously moving conveyor in an overlying pattern with at least two sheets abreast to a sheet stacking mechanism, and wherein a brake means is periodically brought into contact with said sheets of material to effect an increase in the overlap of one sheet on another to thereby provide time to allow removal of completed bundles of sheets from said sheet stacking mechanism, the improvement which comprises: plural gate means mounted on said brake means for stopping the advance of said sheets when said sheets are engaged by said brake means, said gate means including a plurality of individualized gates, arrayed transversely with respect to said conveyor in a spaced-apart configuration; power means attached to each of said individualized gates for independently moving each of said individualized gates into and out of the path of travel of said sheets; and control means connected to said power means for cycling said power means in response to the removal of completed bundles of sheets.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said brake means includes a plurality of elongated brake members arrayed transversely with respect to said conveyor in a spaced-apart configuration, and a plurality of pivotally mounted lifting arms attached to each of said brake members for raising and lowering said brake members; and wherein each of said individualized gates comprises, in combination: a first rock arm pivotally mounted on said lifting arm and extending beyond the end of said brake member; a second rock arm pivotally mounted on said lifting arm on the opposite side thereof from said first rock arm and extending beyond the end of said brake member; a connector plate attached to both said first and second rock arms, whereby movement of one of said rock arms will also move the other; and a downwardly depending finger member attached to the free ends of both of said first and said second rock arms, movement of said rock arms acting to move said finger member from a raised position clear of said sheets to and from a lowered position interfering with the path of travel of said sheets.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said connector plate has a threaded hole extending vertically through it, and wherein said means for adjusting the lowered position of said finger member comprises a threaded bolt engaged with said threaded hole in said connector plate, said bolt being threadable adjustable in said hole to change the point at which said bolt will contact said brake member.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said control means includes: a source of fluid under pressure; a four-way fluid directional control valve, solenoid operated in one direction and spring biased in the other direction, having its inlet connected to said source of fluid under pressure; a first fluid manifold; a first outlet pipeline connected to a first outlet of said solenoid operated valve and to said first manifold; a second fluid manifold; a second outlet pipeline connected to a second outlet of said solenoid operated valve and to said second manifold; a plurality of pipelines connecting said first manifold to the rod end of each of said fluid motors; a plurality of pipelines connecting said second manifold to the blind end of each of said fluid motors; and means electrically connecting said solenoid operated valve to said sheet stacking mechanism for energizing said solenoid operated valve so long as a stack of sheets is being formed, the porting of said solenoid operated valve being such that said source of fluid under pressure is connected to said first manifold when said solenoid operated valve is energized and connected to said second manifold when said solenoid operated valve is de-energized.

10. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said biasing means comprises: a plurality of four-way fluid directional control valves, air pilot operated in one flow direction and spring biased in the other flow direction, one valve being provided for each of said biased individualized gates; a plurality of pipelines connecting said first manifold to a first inlet of said air pilot operated valves; a plurality of pipelines connecting said second manifold to a second inlet of said air pilot operated valves; a plurality of first biasing outlet pipelines connecting a first outlet of said air pilot operated valves to the rod ends of said fluid motors; a plurality of second biasing outlet pipelines connecting a second outlet of said air pilot operated valves to the blind ends of said fluid motors; a plurality of third biasing outlet pipelines connected to a third outlet of said air pilot operated valves; a plurality of check valves, positioned to allow flow only from said third outlets of said air pilot operated valves, connected to said third biasing outlet pipelines; a plurality of cross-connecting pipelines connecting the outlet of said check valves into said first biasing outlet pipelines; and switch means connected to said air pilot operated valves for supplying a control signal to said air pilot operated valves at the discretion of the operator of said feeding apparatus, the porting of said air pilot operated valves being such that said first manifold is connected to said first biasing outlet pipelines and said second manifold is connected to said second biasing outlet piplines so long as said control signal is present, and said first manifold is connected to said second biasing outlet pipelines and said second manifold is connected to said third biasing outlet pipelines when said control signal is not present.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said switch means comprises: a plurality of two-way fluid directional control valves, spring biased in one flow direction and manually switchable to the other flow direction, one two-way valve being provided for each of said plurality of air pilot-operated valves; a plurality of control pipelines connecting the outlets of said two-way valves to a control inlet port of said air pilot operated valves; means for connecting said source of fluid under pressure to the inlet of each of said two-way valves; and a manually operable knob Attached to each of said two-way valves operable to individually stop and start the flow of fluid through said control pipelines.