WO2019220391A1 - Feeding apparatus for feeding flat bodies from the bottom of a pile - Google Patents

Abstract

A feeding apparatus (10) for feeding flat bodies (11) arranged in a pile (12) for a packaging machine; a frame (14) supporting an inlet station (13) provided with guide members (18) for the pile (12) and feed members (17) of at least one flat body (11) positioned at the bottom of the pile (12) along a feed direction (D); the guide members (18) comprising a flat plate (21) provided with a plurality of openings (53); the feed members (17) comprising a rolling element (32) for each opening (53) to define a guide surface (P) for the pile (12); the feed members (17) comprising at least a drive device (29) associated with each rolling element (32) to move the pile (12); an alignment wall (16) frontally delimiting the inlet station (13) above the guide surface (P) to define a crossing station (28) of flat bodies (11); the plate (21) being carried mobile by the frame (14) relative to the guide surface (P) transversally to the direction (D).

Description

FEEDING APPARATUS FOR FEEDING FLAT BODIES FROM THE BOTTOM OF A PILE

DESCRIPTION

The present invention concerns a feeding apparatus for feeding flat bodies to a packaging machine. In particular, the present invention concerns a feeding apparatus for feeding a given number of flat bodies to a packaging machine, where said flat bodies are withdrawn from a pile located in an inlet station. In further detail, the present invention concerns a feeding apparatus for feeding a flat body to a packaging machine, where said flat body is withdrawn individually from the bottom of a pile located in an inlet station.

DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF THE ART

In the packaging sector, corrugated paperboard in pre-cut sheets is commonly used in the production of packaging. The pre-cut sheets have given dimensions and are arranged in orderly piles. The packaging production process obviously entails preliminary operations for separating the sheets from the pile and feeding at least one sheet at a time to a packaging machine. These operations are carried out by a feeding apparatus positioned at the packaging machine inlet .

The patent application no. W02005/105631 A1 describes an apparatus for inserting stacked paperboards into an operating station. In general, said insertion apparatus firstly comprises a frame associated with a suction device which has the purpose of holding each sheet at the bottom of the pile on a respective guide surface. The apparatus further comprises an alignment wall arranged vertically, at a level higher than and in a position closer to said supporting structure in order to longitudinally delimit said operating station; and a plurality of dragging members associated at a higher level than and rotatably with the frame and arranged perpendicularly in respect to a feed direction of said paperboards towards said operating station to drag the sheet positioned at the bottom of the pile beyond said alignment wall. Lastly, the apparatus comprises a guide device carried by the frame, operatively coordinated with the dragging members and capable of assuming at least one lowered conformation with respect to said dragging members, where said guide device does not support the pile, and at least one raised conformation wherein the guide device supports said pile. The object of said device consists in guiding the juxtaposition of said pile with the dragging members during the insertion operations of said flat bodies one at a time.

The technical solution described in the document WO '631 comprises a plurality of rotary drives, one for each dragging member. The number of rotary drives and the redundancy of linear drives makes the structure of the apparatus very complex and requires frequent calibration to avoid the high risk of machine standstill. An apparatus like the one described in the document WO '631 is evidently very costly in both production and management terms, and it is therefore unsuitable for feeding packaging machines. In view of the situation described above, a feeding apparatus which is free from the drawbacks described above and defines an innovative standard in the packaging sector is desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention concerns a feeding apparatus for feeding flat bodies to a packaging machine. In particular, the present invention concerns a feeding apparatus for feeding a given number of flat bodies to a packaging machine, where said flat bodies are withdrawn from a pile located in an inlet station. In further detail, the present invention concerns a feeding apparatus for feeding a flat body to a packaging machine, wherein said flat body is individually withdrawn from the bottom of a pile located in an inlet station.

The problems illustrated above are solved by the present invention according to at least one of the following claims. According to some embodiments of the present invention a feeding apparatus is provided for feeding flat bodies arranged in a pile for a packaging machine; said apparatus comprising a frame which supports an inlet station provided with guide means for said pile; feeding means for feeding at least one said flat body positioned at the bottom of said pile along a feeding direction; said guide means comprising a flat plate delimited by respective longitudinal ends and provided with a plurality of openings uniformly distributed in an array; said feeding means comprising a plurality of rolling elements for each said opening to define a guide surface; said feeding means comprising at least one operating device associated with each said rolling element to move said pile along said direction; alignment means frontally delimiting said inlet station above said guide surface in a height-adjustable manner to define a crossing station for a given number of said flat bodies; said plate being carried mobile by said frame with respect to said guide surface transversally to said direction.

In some embodiments, said guide means comprise actuation members adapted to move said plate between a lowered position below said guide surface and a raised position above said guide surface so that, in use, said rolling elements exclusively feed said given number of said flat bodies through said crossing station. In particular, said actuation members are designed to move said plate between said lowered position and said raised position in a substantially oscillating manner with respect to said surface.

According to one embodiment, said actuation members comprise at least one rotary motor carried by said frame; said support means comprising transmission means designed to transform the circular motions of each said rotary motor into lever oscillatory motions; said transmission means comprising a pair of transmission devices, each hinged at the rear or front to said plate and rotatably to a said rotary motor.

According to another embodiment, said rotary motor carries rotatably a cam; each transmission device comprising a transmission shaft carried by said frame transversally to said feed direction; a rocker arm rigidly coupled to said transmission shaft; a manoeuvring rod hinged to said plate in longitudinal end position and to said rocker arm; a trailing wheel carried by said rocker arm in peripheral contact with said cam.

In some cases, said trailing wheel is of rolling type and comprises a wheel.

In some specific cases said given number is one.

In other cases, said inlet station is delimited at the rear according to said given direction by a shoulder for said pile .

In other cases, each said rolling element (32) comprises a feeding wheel .

In other cases, said alignment means comprise a vertical wall carried by said mobile frame transversally to said feeding direction.

In some cases, it is useful for the apparatus to comprise an outlet station positioned on the opposite side of said inlet station relative to said wall.

In general, said frame can support suction means adapted to determine a low-pressure area below said plate to hold each said flat body positioned at the bottom of said pile towards said rolling members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Further characteristics and advantages of the feeding apparatus according to the present invention will appear clearer from the following description, with reference to the attached figures that illustrate some non-limiting embodiment examples thereof, in which identical or corresponding parts of the device are identified by the same reference numbers. In particular:

figure 1 is a three-dimensional schematic view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

- figure 2 is a side elevation view on an enlarged scale and with parts removed for clarity of figure 1 in a first operating condition, where the view is from the left side of figure 1;

- figure 3 is a side elevation view on an enlarged scale and with parts removed for clarity of figure 1 in the operating condition of figure 2, where the view is from the right side of figure 1;

- figures 4 to 8 illustrate figure 2 in a sequence of operating phases; and

- figures 9 a) - 9 m) illustrate a sequence of views of figure 2 in side elevation on a reduced scale and with parts removed for clarity.

DETAILED DISCLOSURE OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In figure 1, the reference number 10 indicates a feeding apparatus according to the present invention, where said apparatus 10 can be validly used upstream of a known packaging machine not illustrated to feed it with flat bodies 11 having uniform thickness arranged in piles 12 in a process station which below will be indicated as inlet station 13. In use, flat bodies 11 are movable in the apparatus 10 between the inlet station 13 (on the left in figure 1) and an outlet station 100 (on the right in figure 1), positioned on the left of a guide element 101, delimited by an upper surface 102 which in figures 2-8 is illustrated corrugated, without this limiting the scope of the present invention, since the nature of said surface is not important for the purposes of the present invention.

Said flat bodies 11 can consist of cardboard of given thickness or sheets of paper to be folded to construct packaging without this limiting the scope of the present invention. The apparatus 10 comprises a frame 14 which supports the inlet station 13. For practical purposes and to save on drawings, in figure 1 the frame 14 has been schematized with a plurality of supports distinguished by three lines inclined by 45°, according to technical drawing practice. With particular reference to figure 2, the inlet station 13 comprises at least one support member/shoulder 54, each of which has a corner portion 55, functioning as abutment and containment of the flat bodies 11.

With particular reference to figure 2, the frame 14 supports a holding chamber 15 arranged, in the attached figures, below a guide surface P for the pile 12 and, more generally, for the flat bodies 11. The holding chamber 15, which will be described in further detail below, has the function of holding the flat bodies 11 downwards, in use, so that they remain at the level of the surface P throughout their path inside the apparatus 10 along a feed direction D, represented by a dash-dot line in figure 2, from each support member 54 to the outlet station 100. In turn, the holding chamber 15 comprises a low-pressure area 27 below the guide surface P, where said area 27 comprises a first holding chamber 21 positioned below the inlet station 13 and a second chamber 21 positioned below the outlet station 100.

The apparatus 10 further comprises an alignment wall 16 arranged vertically, at a higher level and in an intermediate position between the inlet station 13 and the outlet station 100 and in particular frontally with respect to a feed direction of the flat bodies 11 on the same guide surface P. The function of said alignment wall 16, which is positioned at an adjustable distance from the guide surface P, is to align the pile 12, and define a crossing station/transit port 28 adapted to allow selective feeding of at least one flat body 11 towards the outlet station 100, as will be clarified better below.

Again, with reference to figures 1 and 2, the apparatus 10 comprises feed members 17 carried by the frame 14 in the inlet station 13 and comprising a plurality of rolling elements 32 arranged in an array in parallel rows transversally to the direction D. It should be noted that each rolling element 32 is provided by a wheel and that an upper portion of said wheels 32 defines by enveloping the geometrical position of a guide surface P, tangent at a higher level to the set of wheels 32. The feed members 17 further comprise at least one first rotary drive 29 associated with the frame 14, a plurality of support shafts 31 rotatably supported by the frame 14 so that they are arranged parallel and equally spaced, one for each row of wheels 32. The feed members 17 comprise a drive wheel 310 for each support shaft 31 and flexible transmission elements 30 that connect said drive wheels 310 to transmit the motion generated by the rotary drives 29 to the wheels 32. Further feed members 17' carried by the frame 14 and equipped with wheels 32' are provided also in the outlet station 100, in addition to components identical to those of the feed members 17, and therefore only illustrated in the figures in which it is strictly necessary but not described for the sake of brevity.

The function of these feed members 17 and 17', and more specifically of the wheels 32 and 32', is to drag from below and individually each flat body 11 along the direction D beyond the alignment part 16 provided that one lower face of said flat body 11 is at the level of the surface P. Therefore, the function of the alignment wall 16 is to determine the number of flat bodies 11 that must pass through the transit port 28. The height of the lower edge of the alignment wall 16 is therefore adjusted accordingly relative to the vertical height of the surface P. In the attached figures, without limiting the scope of the present invention, the alignment wall 16 is vertically adjusted so that the height of the respective lower edge from the surface P is proportional to the thickness of a flat body 11, in order to allow the passage of one single flat body 11 at a time through the transit port 28.

Again, with reference to figure 1, the apparatus 10 comprises a guide device 18 carried by the frame 14 and operatively coordinated with said feed members 17. Said guide device 18 comprises a support platform consisting of a plurality of flat plates 21, each supported by the frame 14 so that they are movable in a substantially oscillating manner relative to the surface P between a lowered position PA (shown in figures 2 and 8) and a raised position PS (shown in figure 7) through kinematic generation members 19 which form an integral part of the guide device 18. Each plate 21 has a plurality of cross-through openings 53 (figure 1) arranged in an array, each of which having an elongated rectangular shape and orientated according to the feed direction of the flat bodies 11 to house a wheel 32. In this way, the wheels 32, in use, are adapted to exclusively feed the given number of flat bodies 11 permitted by the height/vertical amplitude of the transit port 28 beyond the latter along the direction D.

At this point it is useful to specify that when the plates 21 are in their respective raised positions PS, the respective upper faces lie above the guide surface P and when the plates 21 are in their respective lowered positions PA, the respective upper faces lie below the guide surface P.

The guide device 18 further comprises kinematic generation members 19 designed to generate a rotary motion, in order to move each plate 21 between the two positions PA and PS mentioned above. In particular, the kinematic generation members 19 comprise a pair of second rotary drives 33, 34 carried by the frame 14, to each of which a driving wheel 35/36 is integrally coupled peripherally delimited by a curvilinear activation profile 37/38, so that the driving wheels 35/36 have the function of a cam, a term which can be used below to indicate said driving wheels.

In addition, the guide device 18 comprises transformation members 20 coupled on one side with the kinematic generation members 19 and on the other with the plates 21, thus transforming the rotary motion produced by the second rotary drives 33, 34 into an oscillatory motion of said plates 21.

In particular, the transformation members 20 comprise leverages 41, 42 kinematically coupled with each support platform/plate 21 (figures 1, 2, 4-8) with the function of transmitting an oscillatory motion to a respective plate 21, as will be clarified in further detail below. With particular reference to figure 1, the leverages 41, 42 comprise transmission shafts 45, 46 transverse to the direction D and carried by the frame 14 in an axially rotatable manner. Each shaft 45/46 is fitted with a first lever 43/44 on the side of the driving wheel 35/36 and a plurality of second control levers 47/48 fitted along the transmission shafts 45 and 46, at first ends of each of the plates 21. Furthermore, the leverages 41 and 42 carry, respectively, substantially vertical manoeuvring rods 49 and 50, each of which is hinged to a second end of the second control levers 47, 48 and for the upper end to edges of each plate 21. The transformation members 20 further comprise trailing wheels 39, 40 each of which is carried rotatably by a respective first lever 43 or 44 and is held peripherally in contact with the respective cam 35/36 to move, by oscillatory motion, the transmission shafts 45 and 46, then the manoeuvring rods 49 and 50 and, consequently, the plates 21 corresponding to them, according to a motion that depends on the conformation of the activation profiles 37 and 38 of the cams 35 and 36. It may be useful to point out that in the embodiment of the attached figures the trailing wheels 39 and 40 are of rolling type and, in particular, made of rollers, without this limiting the scope of the present invention. As shown in figure 2 and in figures 4-8, the manoeuvring rods 49 are built in two parts, hinged to each other, without this limiting the scope of the present invention.

In the light of the above, the guide device 18 carries out an operating cycle in order to juxtapose each pile 12 with the alignment wall 16 and feed at least one flat body 11 beyond the transit port 28.

The apparatus 10 further comprises an electronic control unit 60 for operation (shown only in figure 1) of the respective feed members 17 and 17', the guide device 18 and the kinematic generation members 19; said unit being electronically connected to the first rotary drives 29, and to the second rotary drives 33 and 34 to control the movement of the flat bodies 11 on the guide surface P in the phases illustrated in the attached figures.

The use of the apparatus 10 is easy to understand from what is described above and does not require further explanations. On the other hand, it may be useful to point out that the feeding operation of the flat bodies 11 one at a time of the pile 12 positioned in the inlet station 13 begins with electrical activation of the control unit 60 and, in particular, of the feed members 17 and 17' . In detail, the first rotary drive 29 is activated thus driving the drive wheels 310 and the shafts 31 through the flexible elements 30. The support shafts 31, in turn, rotate concordantly with the wheels 32. The latter cause horizontal feed in the direction of insertion of the flat body 11 which is at the bottom of the pile 12, therefore with the respective lower face on the guide surface P identified by the wheels 32. The guide device 18, and in particular each plate 21, must be mechanically activated when the edge of the flat body 11 facing the alignment wall 16 reaches a given distance from said wall. For this purpose, in said operating phase the control unit 60 operates the kinematic generation members 19, thus moving the transformation members 20 which, in turn, move each support platform 21 from the lowered position PA to the raised position PS. In particular, operation of the kinematic generation members 19 entails activation of the second rotary drives 33, 34 which rotate the cams 35, 36 which, in turn, move the activation profiles 37, 38. Therefore, the latter control activation of the wheels 39, 40 which rotate in a controlled manner the first levers 43 and 44 which, in turn, determine the oscillatory movement of the transmission shafts 45, 46 which is rigidly transmitted to the second levers 47 and 48 which, in turn, induce an oscillatory movement in the manoeuvring rods 49, 50. In this way, each plate 21 progressively assumes a plurality of positions illustrated in figures 2-8 and in figures 9 a) - 9 m), carrying out an operating cycle to juxtapose each pile 12 positioned in the inlet station 13 with the feed members 17 and subsequently feed to the outlet station 100 each respective flat body 11, starting from the one at the bottom of said pile 12, via the wheels 32. Naturally said feeding entails one flat body 11 at a time crossing the transit port 28, unless the alignment wall 16 has been adjusted so that the respective lower edge is positioned at a distance from the guide surface P of a multiple of the thickness of the flat bodies 11. In said operating cycle, the plates 21 supporting the pile 12, or rather the flat bodies 11 of the pile 12 which are in contact with the face of the alignment wall 16 facing the shoulder 54, are oscillated firstly clockwise and then anti-clockwise in figures 4-8 in the passage from the lowered position PA to the raised position PS and vice versa. In particular, said operating cycle comprises a phase of rotating the plates 21 clockwise, acting on the respective rear ends 210, which is actuated through the substantially vertical movement of the manoeuvring rods 50. In said phase the manoeuvring rods 49 are kept fixed. The phase of rotating the plates 21 clockwise is performed at the moment before the inclination of the pile 12 which no longer rests on the flat body 11 being fed but on the shoulder 54 and on the rear portion of the flat body 11 (figure 5) . If not, the flat body 11, now at the bottom of the pile 12, could risk being marked by the wheels 32 carried by the shaft 31 carried by the frame 14 on the side of the shoulder 54, due to the impossibility of feeding said flat body 11 forward due to the movement constraint exercised by the alignment wall 16. Once the rear ends 210 of the plates 21 have been brought to the maximum height position by the manoeuvring rods 50, a phase of rotating the plates 21 anti-clockwise is initiated, determined by the substantially vertical operation of the manoeuvring rods 49 (figure 6) . During said phase the manoeuvring rods 50 are held fixed and the wheels 32 continue to feed the bottom flat body 11 through the transit port 28, likewise the wheels 32 of the outlet station 100. Said anti clockwise rotation phase of the plates 21 terminates when each plate 21 is in the respective raised position PS. At this point, the flat body 11 that was at the bottom of the pile 12 at the start of the operating cycle has now completely crossed the transit port 28 and the flat body 11, which was second from the bottom of the pile 12, rests fully on the plates 21. At this point, the anti-clockwise and clockwise rotation phases of the flat plates 21 described above are inverted to bring the pile 12 comprising the remaining flat bodies 11 back onto the wheels 32, complete the transport operating cycle of the first flat body 11 and begin a new operating cycle.

In light of the above, the movable plates 21 remain horizontal (figures 9 a) - 9 d) ) as long as the flat body 11 being fed on the wheels 32 remains in contact with the wheels 32, while the rear end 210 of the plate 21 is rotated by the rod 50 through the cam 36 in an anti-clockwise direction in figures 9 f ) - 9 g) , then moved upwards, when the flat body 11 being fed on the wheels 32 and on the wheels 32 is in such an advanced position below the alignment wall 16 as to present only a terminal strip in the inlet station 13 and is not in contact with the wheels 32 on the extreme right, so that the respective feed is controlled exclusively by the wheels 32' . From this moment, and for as long as the flat body 11 being fed on the wheels 32 has its terminal rear portion below the alignment wall 16, the rod 50, through the cam 36, holds the rear end 210 at the same maximum height.

It is useful to specify that, as can be seen in figures 9 a) - 9m) , the cam 36 is profiled so that the rear end 210 of the plate 21 always remains free/distinct, and therefore below the lower face of the flat body 11 being fed on the guide surface P defined by the wheels 32 and 32', thus avoiding the plate 21 scraping on, and therefore deteriorating, said lower face of the flat body 11 being fed. This applies to all positions of the plate 21 before said flat body 11 has definitively abandoned the inlet station 13.

With reference to the front portion of the plate 21, this portion is rotated clockwise (figures 9 i) - 9 m)) by the rod 49, through the cam 35, from the moment (figure 9 1)) when the flat body 11 being fed on the wheels 32 has a respective rear portion below the alignment wall 16. At the moment when the front end of the rod 49 is in the position of maximum height, then the plate 21 is again horizontal and supports the remaining flat bodies 11 of the pile 12 keeping them horizontal. From this moment onwards, the two cams 35 and 36 control the downward movement of the rods 49 and 50 to bring the plate 21 to the horizontal position of figure 9 a) . In all the phases illustrated with reference to figures 9 a) - 9 m) the wheels 32 are distinct from the flat body 11 which is parked in the station 13 with the respective lower face facing the wheels 32 of said inlet station 13 to avoid the wheels 32 damaging the lower face by scraping. Naturally, this situation is avoided also for the last flat body 11 of the pile 12.

From this moment onwards, the feed cycle of the flat body 11 which delimits the pile 12 at the bottom presents the respective lower face in contact with the wheels 32 and, therefore, is fed towards the outlet station 100 through the transit port 28 on the wheels 32' .

From what is described above, it is clear that the cams 35 and 36 are profiled so that the oscillatory movement of the plate 21, by means of the rods 49 and 50, is synchronized with feeding of the flat bodies 11 to the bottom of the pile 12 from the inlet station 13 to the outlet station 100.

Therefore, it is evident that the feeding apparatus 10 effectively solves in a simple and inexpensive manner the drawbacks of the prior art presented above.

Lastly, it is clear that modifications and variations can be made to the apparatus 10 described and illustrated here without, thereby, departing from the scope of the present invention .

For the sake of practicality, the numerical references used in the text of the description of the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in the attached figures are listed below.

feeding apparatus: 10;

flat bodies: 11;

pile: 12;

inlet station: 13;

supporting structure: 14;

holding chamber: 15;

alignment wall: 16;

dragging members: 17 and 17'; guide device: 18;

kinematic generation members: 19;

transformation members: 20;

support platform/plate: 21;

low-pressure area: 27;

first and second holding chamber: 27' and 27 ' ' ; transit port: 28;

first rotary drive: 29;

flexible transmission elements: 30;

support shafts: 31;

wheel: 32 and 32';

second rotary drives: 33 and 34;

driving wheel/cam: 35 and 36;

activation profile: 37 and 38;

trailing wheels: 39 and 40;

transmission leverages: 41 and 42;

first control levers: 43 and 44;

transmission shafts: 45 and 46;

second control levers: 47 and 48;

manoeuvring rods: 49 and 50;

openings: 53;

support member: 54;

corner portion: 55;

outlet station: 100;

guide element: 101;

surface: 102;

rear end: 210;

drive wheel: 310;

guide surface: P;

feed direction: D;

lowered position: PA;

raised position: PS.

Claims

1. A feeding apparatus (10) for feeding flat bodies (11) arranged in a pile (12) for a packaging machine; said apparatus (10) comprising a frame (14) which supports an inlet station (13) provided with guide means (18) for said pile (12); feed means (17) for feeding at least one said flat body (11) positioned at the bottom of said pile (12) along a feed direction (D) ; said guide means (18) comprising at least one flat plate (21) delimited by respective longitudinal ends and provided with one of a plurality of openings (53) uniformly distributed in an array; said feed means (17) comprising a plurality of rolling elements (32) for each said opening (53) to define a guide surface (P) ; said feed means (17) comprising at least one drive device (29) associated with each said rolling element (32) to move said pile (12) along said direction (D) ; alignment means (16) frontally delimiting said inlet station (13) above said guide surface (P) in a height-adjustable manner to define a crossing station (28) of a given number of said flat bodies (11); characterized in that said plate (21) is carried mobile by said frame (14) relative to said guide surface (P) transversally to said direction (D) ; said guide means (18) comprising actuation members (19) designed to move each said plate (21) between a lowered position (PA) below said guide surface (P) and a raised position (PS) above said guide surface (P) so that, in use, each said plate (21) remains distinct from said flat body (11) at the bottom of said pile (12) and said rolling elements (32) feed exclusively said given number of said flat bodies (11) through said crossing station (28) without any scraping contact with the remaining said flat bodies (11) of said pile (12) .

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said actuation members (19) are designed to move said plate (21) between said lowered position (PA) and said raised position (PS) in a substantially oscillating manner relative to said surface (P) .

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that said actuation members (19) comprise at least a rotary motor (33) (34) carried by said frame (14) ; said guide means (18) comprising lever transmission means (20) designed to transform the circular motions of each said rotary motor (33) (34) into oscillatory motions; said transmission means

(20) comprising a pair of transmission devices (41) (42), each hinged at the rear or at the front to said plate (21) and rotatably to one said rotary motor (33) (34) .

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that each said rotary motor (33) (34) carries rotatably a cam (35) (36); each transmission device (41) (42) comprising a transmission shaft (45) (46) carried by said frame (14) transversally to said feed direction (D) ; a rocker arm (43, 47) (44, 48) rigidly coupled to said transmission shaft (45) (46); a manoeuvring rod (49) (50) hinged to said plate

(21) in a longitudinal end position and to said rocker arm (43, 47) (44, 48); trailing wheels (39) (40) carried by said rocker arm (43, 47) (44, 48) in peripheral contact with said cam ( 35 ) (36) .

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that each said trailing wheel (39) (40) is of rolling type and comprises a roller (39) (40) .

6. The apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said given number of said flat bodies (11) is one.

7. The apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said inlet station (13) is delimited at the rear according to said given direction by a shoulder (54) for said pile (12) .

8. The apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each said rolling element (32) comprises a feeding wheel (32) .

9. The apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said alignment means (16) comprise a vertical wall (16) carried by said frame (14) mobile transversally to said feed direction (D) .

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises an outlet station (100) on the opposite side to said inlet station (13) relative to said wall (16) .

11. The apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said frame (14) supports holding means (15) designed to create a low-pressure area (27) below said plate (21) and hold each said flat body

(11) positioned at the bottom of said pile (12) towards said rolling elements (32) .