Claims
- 1. In feeding apparatus for feeding sheet material one at a time from the bottom of the stack of the same, said apparatus including a horizontal support for a stack of sheets, stacking means for retaining on said horizontal support a vertical stack of sheet material, said horizontal support terminating short of the front end of the stack to provide a feed opening exposing the front end portion of the bottom sheet in the stack, and means for withdrawing the bottommost sheet from the bottom of the stack through said feed opening and including suction cup means for engaging the bottom surface of the exposed end portion of the bottommost sheet in the stack and by force of suction therefrom pulling the sheet downwardly from the stack through the feed opening, the improvement wherein said stacking means includes upstanding front wall means for engaging the front end of said stack of sheets, and means for supporting said front wall means for longitudinal front to rear movement to varying degrees relative to the horizontal support to vary the relative position between the front margin of said stack of sheets abutting said front wall means and the suction cup means.
- 2. In feeding apparatus for feeding sheet material one at a time from the bottom of the stack of the same, said apparatus including a horizontal support for a stack of sheets, stacking means for retaining on said horizontal support an aligned vertical stack of sheet material, said stacking means including front guide means for engaging and aligning the front edges of said stack of sheets, said horizontal support terminating short of the front end of the stack to provide a feed opening exposing the front end portion of the bottom sheet in the stack, support ledge-forming means forming a support ledge and confronting said feed opening for supporting the weight of the front end of the stack of sheets, means for withdrawing the bottommost sheet from the bottom of the stack through said feed opening and including means for engaging the bottom surface of the exposed end portion of the bottommost sheet in the stack and pulling the same downwardly from the stack through the feed opening, said ledge-forming means being movable to varying degrees rearwardly beyond said front guide means, and there is provided means for adjusting said ledge-forming means so that the width of the support ledge formed thereby can be varied to accommodate sheets of different weight and flexibility, the improvement wherein said front guide means are separate upstanding front guide members, said support ledge-forming means are carried on the bottom of said upstanding front guide members, said front upstanding guide members being independently adjustable along the length of said feed opening, to provide stacking means which accommodates different sized sheets.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein there is provided rear guide members which engage and align the rear ends of said stack of sheets, said rear guide members being mounted for individual adjustment in a direction parallel to the length of said feed opening so as to provide guide members confronting corresponding ones of said first mentioned guide members at the front of the stack of sheets.
- 4. The feeding apparatus of claim 3 wherein there is provided a horizontal front rail parallel to said feed opening and upon which said front guide members are individually horizontally adjustable and there is provided a horizontal rear rail parallel to said front rail and upon which said rear guide members are individually adjustable, means for locking said front and rear guide members on said rail in their adjustable position.
- 5. The sheet feeding apparatus of claim 4 wherein said rear guide rail is adjustable in position in a direction transversely to the length of said opening.
- 6. The feeding apparatus of claim 2 wherein there is provided rear guide members which engage and align the rear ends of said stack of sheets and a horizontal front rail parallel to said feed opening and upon which said front guide members are individually horizontally adjustable and there is provided a horizontal rear rail parallel to said front rail and upon which said rear guide members are individually adjustable, means for locking said front and rear guide members on said rails in their adjustable position.
- 7. The sheet feeding apparatus of claim 6 wherein said rear guide rail is adjustable in position in a direction transversely to the length of said opening.
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a divisional application of Ser. No. 273,573 filed on June 15, 1981, U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,657.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
273573 |
Jun 1981 |
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