Claims
- 1. In combination with a box finishing machine having at least one station where an operation is performed on corrugated blanks; a first feeder for feeding corrugated blanks towards the station, comprising in combination; overlying and underlying endless timing belts trained about inlet and outlet pulleys for receiving blanks between the belts and feeding the blanks towards said station, said belts being spaced from each other to form a first gap at rectilinearly moving sections located between the inlet and outlet pulleys, and being spaced from each other at the inlet and outlet pulleys to form a second gap which is greater than said first gap whereby blanks enter said second gap at the inlet pulleys without being driven by said belts and are engaged and driven by said rectilinearly moving belt sections at said first gap and fed toward the outlet pulleys, and a second feeder located upstream of said first feeder for feeding blanks to said first feeder, said second feeder being located and having means for driving a blank through said second gap at the inlet pulleys and into said first gap at a constant velocity matched to the velocity of said belts, and wherein said inlet pulleys have axes of rotation and wherein said second gap is located along a line interconnecting said axes of the inlet pulleys.
- 2. The combination defined in claim 1 further including means urging one of said belt sections towards the other to engage blanks for feeding the blanks in a direction towards the outlet pulleys.
- 3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said means urging one of said belt sections includes spring means urging said one belt section towards the other.
- 4. The combination defined in claim 3 wherein said means urging one of said belt sections includes a pressure member engaging said one belt section and said spring engages said pressure member.
- 5. The combination defined in claim 4 wherein said pressure member is generally coextensive with the width and a substantial length of said one belt section for distributing pressure throughout said one belt section.
- 6. The combination defined in claim 1 further including a pressure member urging said one belt section towards the other to engage blanks for feeding the blanks in a direction towards the outlet pulleys.
- 7. The combination defined in claim 6 wherein said pressure member is generally coextensive with the width and a substantial length of said one belt section for distributing pressure throughout said one belt section.
- 8. The combination defined in claim 6 wherein said second feeder has means for driving a blank to a downstream end of the pressure member.
- 9. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said first gap is approximately equal to the thickness of the blanks inches and the second gap is preferably at least 0.010 inches greater than said first gap and most preferably 0.030 inches or more greater than the first gap.
- 10. The combination defined in claim 9 wherein the belts each include an outer layer of flexible, resilient material having a high coefficient of friction surface engageable with the blanks, and having a thickness of preferably between 0.05 and 0.75 inches and most preferably 0.25 inches.
- 11. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said first gap is dimensioned such that the blank is subjected to a pressure of preferably between 0.1 and 4.0 p.s.i. and most preferably 0.5 p.s.i.
- 12. In combination with a box finishing machine having at least one station where an operation is performed on corrugated blanks; a first feeder for feeding corrugated blanks towards the station, comprising in combination; overlying and underlying endless belts trained about inlet and outlet pulleys for receiving blanks between the belts and feeding the blanks towards said station, said belts being spaced from each other to form a first gap at rectilinearly moving sections located between the inlet and outlet pulleys, and being spaced from each other at inlet and outlet pulleys to form a second gap which is greater than said first gap whereby blanks enter said second gap at the inlet pulleys without being driven by said belts and are initially engaged and driven by both of said belt sections upon entering said first gap, means urging one of said belt sections towards the other to engage blanks for feeding the blanks in a direction towards the outlet pulleys, said means including spring means urging said one belt section towards the other belt section, and a second feeder located upstream of said first feeder for feeding blanks to said first feeder, said second having means for driving a blank through said second gap at the inlet pulley and into said first gap at a location adjacent the outlet pulleys at a constant velocity matched to the velocity of said belts, and wherein said inlet pulleys have axes of rotation and wherein said second gap is located along a line interconnecting said axes of the inlet pulleys.
- 13. The combination defined in claim 12 wherein said means urging one of said belt sections further includes a pressure member engaging said one belt section and said spring means engages said pressure member, said pressure member being dimensioned generally coextensive with the width and a substantial length of said one belt section.
- 14. A system for feeding sheets of material such as corrugated board comprising in combination, a first feeder including a pair of endless belt conveyors including endless belts trained about inlet and outlet pulleys for receiving sheets between inner runs of the belts and feeding the sheets towards the outlet pulleys, said inner runs of the belts being spaced from each other to form a first gap at rectilinearly moving sections located between the inlet and outlet pulleys, and being spaced from each other at the inlet pulleys to form a second gap which is greater than said first gap whereby blanks enter said second gap at the inlet pulleys and are engaged and driven by said rectilinearly moving belt sections at said first gap and fed toward the outlet pulleys, and a second feeder located upstream of said first feeder for feeding sheets to said first feeder, said second feeder having means for driving a sheet through said second gap at the inlet pulley and into said first gap at a constant velocity matched to the velocity of said belts, and wherein said inlet pulleys have axes of rotation and wherein said second gap is located along a line interconnecting said axes of the inlet pulleys.
- 15. The feeder defined in claim 14 further including means urging one of said belt sections towards the other to engage sheets for feeding the sheets in a direction towards the outlet pulleys.
- 16. The feeder defined in claim 15 wherein said means urging one of said belt section includes spring means urging said one belt section towards the other.
- 17. The feeder defined in claim 16 wherein said means urging one of said belt section includes a pressure member engaging said one belt section, and said spring means engages said pressure member to urge the pressure member against said one belt section.
- 18. The feeder defined in claim 17 wherein said belts have a width, and said pressure member is generally coextensive with the width and a substantial length of said one belt section thereby distributing pressure substantially throughout said one belt section.
- 19. The feeder defined in claim 15 having means for driving a sheet to a downstream end of said means urging one of said belt sections.
- 20. A method of feeding corrugated blanks in a box finishing machine comprising the steps of: utilizing overlying and underlying endless belt conveyors including timing belts for engaging the blanks at sections of the belts intermediate the ends of the belts where the sections are spaced at a first gap, setting the first gap to be less than a second gap located at the inlet and outlet ends of the conveyor belts such that blanks pass through the inlet and are driven by the belts only at the first gap while the blanks are moving rectilinearly, utilizing a feeder for driving blanks through the inlet of the conveyor belts and into the first gap at a velocity matched to the velocity of said belts, and releasing the blanks from the feeder when the blanks reach a location between the inlet and outlet pulleys and while the blanks are engaged and driven by the belts.
- 21. The method defined in claim 20 further including the steps of applying pressure through one of the sections of the belts through a distribution member engaging one of said belt sections to distribute pressure substantially throughout said one belt section, and driving the blanks with the feeder until the blanks reach a downstream end of the distribution member.
- 22. The method defined in claim 21 further including the step of spring biasing said pressure member such that said belt section is automatically adjustable to compensate for variations in the setting of the first gap.
- 23. A method of feeding corrugated blanks downstream in a box-finishing machine comprising the steps of: feeding a blank downstream with a feeder machine between inner runs of a pair of endless conveyor belts until the blank has at least reached a location intermediate the opposite ends of the belts, engaging the blank with both belts to drive the blank downstream at the same speed at which the feeder machine is feeding the blank, and releasing the blank from the feeder machine when the blank reaches said location and while the belts continue to drive the blank downstream.
- 24. The method defined in claim 23 including the step of using a pressure-distribution member to exert pressure on one of said belts in a direction toward the other belt to determine the pressure distributed to the blank, and releasing the blank from the feeder machine when it is under pressure from said pressure-distribution member.
- 25. The method defined in claim 24 wherein said pressure-distribution member is located between opposite upstream and downstream ends of said belts and has a downstream end, and wherein the blank is disengaged from the feeder machine when the blank is at the downstream end of the pressure-distribution member.
- 26. In combination with a box finishing machine having at least one station where an operation is performed on corrugated blanks; a first feeder for feeding corrugated blanks towards the station and including endless timing belts trained about inlet and outlet pulleys for receiving blanks between inner runs of the belts and feeding the blanks downstream towards said station, said inner runs of the belts being spaced from each other to form a first gap at sections located between the inlet and outlet pulleys and a second gap between the inlet pulleys and greater than said first gap such that the blanks are fed by the belts only while the blanks are moving rectilinearly between said inlet and outlet pulleys, and a second feeder located upstream of said first feeder for feeding blanks to said first feeder, said second feeder having means for driving a blank between said belts at a velocity matched to the velocity of said belts while the belts are also feeding the blank downstream and for disengaging the blank when it reaches a predetermined location between the inlet and outlet pulleys and while the belts are still feeding the blank, and wherein said second gap is located along a line interconnecting rotational axes of the inlet pulleys.
- 27. The combination defined in claim 26 further including a pressure member urging one belt section towards an opposite belt section to engage blanks for feeding the blanks, and wherein said second feeder has means for disengaging said blank when the blank is located at the pressure member.
- 28. The combination defined in claim 27 wherein said pressure member has a downstream end and said second feeder has means for disengaging the blank when the blank is at the downstream end of said pressure member.
- 29. The combination defined in claim 28 wherein said pressure member is generally coextensive with the width and a substantial length of said one belt section for distributing pressure throughout said one belt section.
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/662,034, filed Feb. 28, 1991 and entitled "Method And Apparatus For Feeding Sheets" which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/257,063, filed Oct. 13, 1988, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,811.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2219354 |
Oct 1973 |
DEX |
659513 |
Oct 1951 |
GBX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
257063 |
Oct 1988 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
662034 |
Feb 1991 |
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