Claims
- 1. A sheet feeding system for feeding a forward-most sheet from a stack of flat sheets, said system comprising:
- a hopper for holding said stack;
- a reciprocating shuttle plate having a sheet-engaging surface on which said stack rests for gripping said forward-most sheet and pulling said forward-most sheet out of said sheet stack, said reciprocating shuttle plate having motion in a separating direction substantially parallel to the plane of said flat sheets, said plate defining a vacuum opening therethrough to said sheet-engaging surface;
- a suction means for synchronously applying suction to said sheet-engaging surface through said vacuum opening for gripping said forward-most sheet to said sheet-engaging surface so that the shuttle plate carries said forward-most sheet with it when it moves in said separating direction and delivers said forward-most sheet to an additional conveyor;
- an adjusting means for allowing the position of said vacuum opening relative to said sheet stack in said hopper to be changed in a direction perpendicular to said separating direction approximately parallel to a plane of said forward-most sheet.
- 2. A sheet feeding system as in claim 1 wherein said adjusting means comprises interchangeable panels forming said sheet-engaging surface of said shuttle plate with a vacuum panel of said panels defining said vacuum opening, but at least one other interchangeable panel not having a vacuum opening therethrough, said shuttle plate further including a vacuum manifold forming a vacuum cavity located below the plurality of said interchangeable panels whereby said vacuum panel can be placed in a plurality of positions above said vacuum cavity from which said vacuum can be applied to said sheet-engaging surface through said vacuum opening on said shuttle plate.
- 3. A sheet feeding system for feeding a forward-most sheet from a stack of flat sheets, said system comprising:
- a movable shuttle means having a sheet-engaging surface on which said stack of sheets rests for gripping said forward-most sheet and pulling said forward-most sheet out of said sheet stack, said movable shuttle means having a motion in a separating direction substantially parallel to the plane of said flat sheets, said shuttle means defining a vacuum opening therethrough to said sheet-engaging surface;
- a suction means for synchronously applying suction to said sheet-engaging surface through said vacuum opening for gripping said forward-most sheet to said sheet-engaging surface so that said shuttle means carries said forward-most sheet with it when it moves in said separating direction to deliver said forward-most sheet to an additional conveyor;
- a hopper for holding said sheet stack, said hopper including edge guides for contacting edges of sheets in said sheet stack and also including a thumb mechanism for contacting edges of sheets in said sheet stack located above said forward-most sheet, but yet allowing said sheets to move forwardly past said thumb mechanism by means of an applied force to eventually become forward most sheets;
- a first blocking means positioned adjacent said stack of said flat sheets and being spaced adjacent a path of said shuttle means in said separating direction downstream of said stack of flat sheets but upstream of said additional conveyor for contacting non-fed sheets in said stack other than said forward-most sheet and thereby preventing said non-fed sheets from following said forward-most sheet when it is fed in said separating direction;
- a second blocking means positioned in said separating direction downstream of said first blocking meas but upstream of said additional conveyor for contacting a double sheet, that is a sheet other than said forward-most sheet carried by said shuttle means in said separating direction, thereby preventing said double sheet from being fed to said additional conveyor;
- whereby the shuttle means carries said forward-most sheet past the first and second blocking means to said additional conveyor, but a double sheet following said shuttle means past said first blocking member is stripped from said forward-most sheet and not allowed to follow said forward-most sheet to said additional conveyor by said second blocking means; and,
- wherein said first blocking means is an elongated knife gate and said shuttle means is a reciprocating shuttle plate including a vacuum groove which is positioned immediately below a separating lower end of said elongated knife gate and wherein said second blocking means comprises two singulator separators positioned on opposite sides of said vacuum groove, for forming singulator gaps between them and shoulder formed on said shuttle plate on opposite sides of said vacuum groove.
- 4. A sheet feeding system as in claim 3 wherein said shuttle means includes a vacuum panel at said vacuum opening having surfaces above adjacent surfaces for contacting said forward-most sheet.
- 5. A sheet feeding system for feeding a forward-most sheet from a stack of flat sheets, said system comprising:
- a movable shuttle means having a sheet-engaging surface on which said stack of sheets rests for gripping said forward-most sheet and pulling said forward-most sheet out of said sheet stack, said movable shuttle means having a motion in a separating direction substantially parallel to the plane of said flat sheets, said shuttle means defining a vacuum opening therethrough to said sheet-engaging surface;
- a suction means for synchronously applying suction to said sheet-engaging surface through said vacuum opening for gripping said forward-most sheet to said sheet-engaging surface so that said shuttle means carries said forward-most sheet with it when it moves in said separating direction to deliver said forward-most sheet to an additional conveyor;
- a hopper for holding said sheet stack, said hopper including edge guides for contacting edges of sheets in said sheet stack and also including a thumb mechanism for contacting edges of sheets in said sheet stack located above said forward-most sheet in said sheet stack for providing support to some of the sheets positioned above said forward-most sheet, but yet allowing said sheets to move forwardly past said thumb mechanism by means of an applied force to eventually become forward-most sheets; and,
- wherein said shuttle means includes a vacuum panel at said vacuum opening having surfaces above adjacent surfaces for contacting said forward-most sheet.
- 6. A sheet feeding system for feeding a forward-most sheet from a stack of flat sheets, said system comprising:
- a movable shuttle means having a sheet-engaging surface on which said stack of sheets rests for gripping said forward-most sheet and pulling said forward-most sheet out of said sheet stack, said movable shuttle means having a motion in a separating direction substantially parallel to the plane of said flat sheets, said shuttle means defining a vacuum opening therethrough to said sheet-engaging surface;
- a suction means for synchronously applying suction to said sheet-engaging surface through said vacuum opening for gripping said forward-most sheet to said sheet-engaging surface so that said shuttle means carries said forward-most sheet with it when it moves in said separating direction to deliver said forward-most sheet to an additional conveyor;
- a hopper for holding said sheet stack, said hopper including edge guides for contacting edges of sheets in said sheet stack and also including a thumb mechanism for contacting edges of sheets in said sheet stack located above said forward-most sheet, but yet allowing said sheets to move forwardly past said thumb mechanism by means of an applied force to eventually become forward most sheets; and,
- an endless clamp conveyor having clamps thereon for receiving sheets from said additional conveyor, said sheet-feeding system further comprising a sheet feeding transition tray having a continuously driven endless belt conveyor forming a nip with an idler roller which is biased toward said endless belt conveyor for conveying sheets received from said additional conveyor to said clamps positioned on said endless clamp conveyor, said sheet-feeding transition tray including an idler-roller mounting means for allowing the position of said idler roller to be adjusted along the endless belt so that the position of said idler roller can be placed approximately a distance from a clamp receive a sheet equal to the length of the sheet.
- 7. A sheet feeding system for feeding a forward-most sheet from a stack of flat sheets, said system comprising:
- a movable shuttle means having a sheet-engaging surface on which said stack of sheets rests for gripping said forward-most sheet and pulling said forward-most sheet out of said sheet stack, said movable shuttle means having a motion in a separating direction substantially parallel to the plane of said flat sheets, said shuttle means defining a vacuum opening therethrough to said sheet-engaging surface;
- a suction means for synchronously applying suction to said sheet-engaging surface through said vacuum opening for gripping said forward-most sheet to said sheet-engaging surface so that said shuttle means carries said forward-most sheet with it when it moves in said separating direction to deliver said forward-most sheet to an additional conveyor;
- a hopper for holding said sheet stack, said hopper including edge guides for contacting edges of sheets in said sheet stack and also including a thumb mechanism for contacting edges of sheets in said sheet stack located above said forward-most sheet, but yet allowing said sheets to move forwardly past said thumb mechanism by means of an applied force to eventually become forward most sheets; and,
- an adjusting means for allowing the position of said vacuum opening relative to said sheet stack in said hopper to be changed in a direction perpendicular to said separating direction approximately parallel to the plane of said forward-most sheet.
- 8. A sheet feeding system as in claim 7 wherein said shuttle means is a reciprocating shuttle plate and said adjusting means includes interchangeable panels on said shuttle plate one of which is a vacuum-opening forming panel to allow the position of said vacuum-opening forming panel to be moved between a plurality of different positions on said shuttle plate, said shuttle plate further including a manifold having an enlarged manifold cavity located below a plurality of said interchangeable panels, whereby said vacuum-opening forming panel can receive vacuum from said manifold cavity located at said plurality of different positions on said shuttle plate.
- 9. A sheet feeding system for feeding a forward-most sheet from a stack of flat sheets, said system comprising:
- a movable shuttle having a sheet-engaging surface on which said stack of sheets rests for gripping said forward-most sheet and pulling said forward-most sheet out of said sheet stack, said movable shuttle having a motion in a separating direction substantially parallel to the plane of said flat sheets, said movable shuttle defining a vacuum opening therethrough to said sheet-engaging surface;
- a source of suction for synchronously applying suction to said sheet-engaging surface through said vacuum opening for gripping said forward-most sheet to said sheet-engaging surface so that said movable shuttle carries said forward-most sheet with it when it moves in said separating direction to deliver said forward-most sheet to an additional conveyor;
- said shuttle including a mover for moving said shuttle in the opposite, non separating direction; and,
- A controller for controlling said source of suction to selectively apply suction to said sheet-engaging surface during motion of said shuttle in said non-separating direction so that said forward-most sheet moves in said opposite direction before it is moved in said separating direction.
- 10. The sheet feeding system of claim 9 including:
- a hopper for holding said sheet stack, said hopper including edge guides for contacting edges of sheets in said sheet stack.
- 11. The sheet feeding system of claim 10 including a thumb mechanism for contacting edges of sheets in said sheet stack located above said forward-most sheet, but yet allowing said sheets to move forwardly past said thumb mechanism by means of an applied force to eventually become forward-most sheets.
- 12. A method of operating a sheet feeding device for feeding a forward-most sheet from a stack of flat sheets, said sheet-feeding device being of the type in which a moveable shuttle means has a sheet-engaging surface on which said stack rests for gripping said forward-most sheet and moving said forward-most sheet relative to said stack, said moveable shuttle means having a motion in a separating direction substantially parallel to a plane of said flat sheets and motion in the opposite direction, said method comprising the steps of:
- applying said suction to said sheet-engaging surface during motion of said shuttle means in said opposite direction to draw said forward-most sheet slightly in said opposite direction; and,
- then moving said shuttle means and said sheet in said separating direction.
- 13. A method of claim 12 wherein said sheet feeding device includes an additional conveyor positioned downstream from said stack of flat sheets in said sheet-separating direction, said method including the step of:
- delivering said forward-most sheet to said additional conveyor while said forward-most sheet is moving in said separating direction.
Parent Case Info
This is a division, of application Ser. No. 07/923,257 filed Jul. 31, 1992 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,868) which is a division of Ser. No. 07/518,440 filed May 3, 1990 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,161).
US Referenced Citations (53)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1151244 |
Jul 1963 |
DEX |
65798 |
Nov 1969 |
DEX |
631421 |
Nov 1978 |
SUX |
Divisions (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
923257 |
Jul 1992 |
|
Parent |
518440 |
May 1990 |
|