Claims
- 1. An apparatus for feeding sheet-like articles from a vertical stack thereof, comprisinga rest for supporting a vertical stack of the articles, a sucker arrangement for lifting the uppermost one of the articles from the stack, a pushing away unit for laterally moving the article which has been lifted from the stack by the sucker arrangement, said sucker arrangement including at least one suction head which is mounted for movement in a guide element between a lowered extended position where it engages the uppermost one of the articles in the stack, and a raised retracted position, said suction head having a lower suction opening which is permanently connected to a negative pressure source, and a restoring element for biasing the suction head toward its lowered position, wherein when the suction head is in its lowered position and engages the uppermost one of the articles in the stack, the suction opening is closed by the article and the negative pressure causes the suction head to move toward its raised position against the biasing force of the restoring element and thereby lift the engaged article, and wherein the pushing away unit then engages and laterally moves the lifted article so as to remove the article from the sucker arrangement and open the suction opening, and wherein the suction head is then moved to its lowered position by the restoring element so as to engage the next uppermost article in the stack.
- 2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising a load bearing structure which is mounted for displacement in a substantially vertical direction above the rest, and which mounts the sucker arrangement and the pushing away unit.
- 3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein the load bearing structure includes a supporting arrangement which includes at least one supporting element which is positioned to rest upon the stack, so that the load bearing structure is supported at an elevation determined by the height of the stack.
- 4. The apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the supporting arrangement includes at least two spaced apart supporting elements which are positioned to rest upon opposite edges of the stack.
- 5. The apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein the pushing away unit defines a lateral advancing direction in which the raised sheet is moved.
- 6. The apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein the supporting elements comprise rotatably mounted supporting wheels which have axes which are each disposed at an angle other than 90 degrees with respect to the advancing direction.
- 7. The apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein the suction opening is in the form of a slot which extends transversely to the advancing direction.
- 8. The apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the pushing a way unit comprises a plurality of carrying along elements which are spaced apart from each other and mounted for movement along an endless path of travel so that the carrying along elements sequentially engage an edge of each article lifted by the sucker arrangement.
- 9. The apparatus as defined in claim 3 further comprising at least one holding down element mounted to the load bearing structure and which is moveable between a lowered active position in engagement with the uppermost article in the stack and a raised standby position, and a drive for periodically moving the holding down element between its lowered and raised positions in synchronism with the movement of the suction head so that the holding down element subjects the next uppermost article to a restraining force as the uppermost article is lifted by the suction head.
- 10. The apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said rest is mounted at a fixed elevation.
- 11. The apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein the load bearing structure is mounted to a carriage which is mounted for movement along a guide which extends substantially in the vertical direction.
- 12. The apparatus as defined in claim 11 further comprising a removal conveyor having an entry end mounted to the carriage and so as to receive the lifted articles as they are serially removed from the suction head by the pushing away unit.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
0227/99 |
Feb 1999 |
CH |
|
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present application is a continuation of PCT/CH99/00529, filed Nov. 10, 1999, and designating the United States.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Foreign Referenced Citations (7)
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Date |
Country |
40 12 779 |
May 1991 |
DE |
195 28 420 |
Feb 1997 |
DE |
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EP |
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EP |
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Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
PCT/CH99/00529 |
Nov 1999 |
US |
Child |
09/921744 |
|
US |