Claims
- 1. A method for in-plane separation of at least two mutually unconnected sheet articles that are transported along mutually-laterally-adjacent, in-plane paths, each sheet article having a straight lateral edge along an entire side thereof which is oriented in the direction of overall transport motion and which faces toward the laterally-adjacent inplane path, said method comprising the steps of:
- feeding first and second unconnected sheet articles parallel to one another to first and second mutually divergent belt arrangements, respectively;
- driving the first and second mutually divergent belt arrangements continuously at substantially common speeds;
- conveying divergently in relation to one another the first and second unconnected sheet articles to a transporter, said step of conveying divergently being effected in a common plane and being performed in the first and second mutually divergent belt arrangements, respectively;
- separating the first and second unconnected sheet articles in the common plane substantially irrotationally so that lateral separation therebetween is increased while said step of conveying divergently is performed; and
- transporting the unconnected sheet articles by said transporter in side-by-side parallel relationship and, thereafter, further handling the unconnected sheet articles, wherein said step of transporting includes the steps of:
- receiving, capturing, and nipping the unconnected sheet articles in a plurality of nip roller pairs immediately subsequent to said steps of conveying divergently and separating;
- positively feeding the unconnected sheet articles in and by the plurality of nip roller pairs in parallel relationship toward first and second collectors, respectively;
- selectively stopping first and second unconnected sheet articles upon continuously driven belts by selectively releasable gate means in first and second collectors, respectively;
- collecting selectively-stopped, unconnected sheet articles in the respective collectors; and,
- selectively releasing and thereby delivering stopped, unconnected sheet articles from respective collectors for said step of further handling.
- 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of conveying divergently includes nipping the first and second unconnected sheet article, respectively, between a plurality of lower and upper reaches included in each of the first and second mutually-divergent belt arrangements, respectively, and thereby continuously gripping and conveying the unconnected sheet articles in the direction of the respective one of said first and second mutually divergent belt arrangements.
- 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of further handling includes conveying the unconnected sheet articles on a conveyor in a direction that is substantially orthogonal to the direction of motion of the unconnected sheet articles during said delivering step.
- 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said step of conveying includes intermittently conveying the unconnected sheet articles on the conveyor.
- 5. The method according to claim 1, including guiding the unconnected sheet articles by a plurality of driven guide belts in parallel relationship to said first and second collectors, respectively, said step of guiding being effected during a portion of said feeding step and subsequently thereto.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/686,363, filed Apr. 17, 1991, now abandoned, which, in turn, is a division of Ser. No. 07/401,743, filed Sep. 1, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,609.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
388090 |
Sep 1962 |
CHX |
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
401743 |
Sep 1989 |
|
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
686363 |
Apr 1991 |
|