US3572686A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Sheet associating device having rotary pneumatic separators
Assignee: Plessey Overseas Ltd
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Filing: 1968-08-15
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Granted: 1971-03-30
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Expires: 1988-08-15
Abstract
Abstract To feed assorted documents in a predetermined order to an inline conveyor track, individual modular sections of a stationary track having drive rollers for the paper are each provided with a feed throat to which documents from the top of a stack contained in a magazine are fed by a continuously rotating suction drum in which a valve restricts suction to the upwardly moving side while a solenoid valve applies suction only at the time when the supply of a document from the hopper in question is required.
Inventors
- 👤 Alan K Day
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 20:22
CPC Classifications
B; B65; B65H; B65H3/00; B65H3/08; B65H3/10; B65H2301/00; B65H2301/40; B65H2301/42; B65H2301/423; B65H2301/4232; B65H2301/42324
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
224 words
Sheet-feeding equipment comprising a conveyor movable along a path, a number of hopper units spaced along the conveyor path, each hopper unit being equipped with a feed drum rotatable about an axis substantially perpendicular to the conveyor path and having suction ports in a part of its circumference for drawing in use, one end of a top sheet away from a pile of sheets loaded in the hopper unit, suction foot means against which in use the top sheet is normally held by suction sufficient to resist a tendency for the sheet to be removed by the drum from the pile, a rotor disc valve which is driven at the same angular velocity as the feed drum, so that during part of a revolution of the feed drum the suction foot is coupled to a suction supply port and during the rest of the revolution it is coupled to a control port, the air pressure at which is determined in accordance with the setting of valve means, operable for facilitating the provision at a predetermined instant of reduced suction at the suction foot, to enable the top sheet to be withdrawn from the pile as the drum rotates and thereafter to be delivered through a delivery throat in a direction and at a speed substantially similar to the movement maintained on the said track.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
224 words
Sheet-feeding equipment comprising a conveyor movable along a path, a number of hopper units spaced along the conveyor path, each hopper unit being equipped with a feed drum rotatable about an axis substantially perpendicular to the conveyor path and having suction ports in a part of its circumference for drawing in use, one end of a top sheet away from a pile of sheets loaded in the hopper unit, suction foot means against which in use the top sheet is normally held by suction sufficient to resist a tendency for the sheet to be removed by the drum from the pile, a rotor disc valve which is driven at the same angular velocity as the feed drum, so that during part of a revolution of the feed drum the suction foot is coupled to a suction supply port and during the rest of the revolution it is coupled to a control port, the air pressure at which is determined in accordance with the setting of valve means, operable for facilitating the provision at a predetermined instant of reduced suction at the suction foot, to enable the top sheet to be withdrawn from the pile as the drum rotates and thereafter to be delivered through a delivery throat in a direction and at a speed substantially similar to the movement maintained on the said track.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
99 words
Sheet-feeding equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein the control port is normally coupled through the valve means to a vacuum or partial vacuum until the valve means is operated to couple the control port to atmosphere, atmospheric pressure thereafter being applied to the suction foot via the rotor disc valve thus removing from the top sheet the restraining force afforded by the reduced air pressure at the vacuum foot and allowing the sheet, through further rotation of the feed drum, to be carried away from the pile for subsequent ejection through the throat on to the conveyor track.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
Sheet-feeding equipment as claimed in claim 2 wherein the valve means comprises a two-way valve including solenoid-operating means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
26 words
Sheet-feeding equipment as claimed in claim 3 wherein the hopper unit includes a magazine which may be readily inserted into or withdrawn from the hopper unit.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
80 words
Sheet-feeding equipment as claimed in claim 4, wherein the conveyor track is arranged above the magazine with the said drum arranged over that end of the sheets in the magazine which faces the rearward end of the said track so that after passing over one-half of the circumference of the said drum this end of each sheet will be ejected first onto the said track through the said throat to become the leading edge of the sheet during its travel.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
80 words
Sheet-feeding equipment as claimed in claim 5, wherein each magazine includes a baseplate at the lower end of the stack of sheets in a magazine and means for raising the baseplate until the uppermost sheet reaches a predetermined level just below the feed drum whereupon the upward movement is terminated under the control of a detector device which is arranged to switch on a vacuum and to restart the feed movement when the level has fallen by a predetermined amount.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
62 words
Sheet-feeding equipment as claimed in claim 6, wherein the top sheet of the stack which is being picked up at one end by the suction foot and the next sheet are separated by an air jet which is directed across the top of the stack to effect separation and to obviate the risk of two sheets being pickEd up by the drum.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
46 words
Sheet-feeding equipment as claimed in claim 7 wherein the continuation of movement of each sheet after its delivery onto the track is effected by means of driven rollers carried in the track bed against which the sheets are resiliently urged by slightly loaded nondriven contact rollers.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1974-03-29 | 1974-09-28 | 1975-03-30 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1978-03-29 | 1978-09-28 | 1979-03-30 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1982-03-29 | 1982-09-28 | 1983-03-30 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |