Brush feeder for warped sheets

Claim 2

In a sheet feeder system for successively feeding the lowermost sheet in a plane parallel to said sheet from a stack of said sheets for further processing of said sheet, structure defining a hopper for a stack of sheets to be fed by said feeder system, means for defining the trailing edges of said stack of sheets, a feeding bar assembly positioned beneath said stack of sheets and arranged to reciprocate in contact thereunder and having a feed bar, at least one sheet engaging means positioned upon said feed bar for engaging the trailing edge of said lowermost sheet, and means for continuously driving the adjacent trailing edges of at least some of said sheets in said stack of sheets against the lowermost sheet so that said engaging means on the rearward stroke of said feed bar positions itself for engagement with the trailing edge of said lowermost sheet and upon forward stroke of said feed bar extracts said lowermost sheet from said stack of sheets.

Claim 3

In a sheet feeder system as recited in claim 1, wherein a plurality of sheet engaging means are positioned in spaced relationship upon said feed bar to engage the trailing edge of the lowermost sheet of said stack of sheets at a plurality of spaced positions.

Claim 4

In a sheet feeder system as recited in claim 1, wherein said driving means includes a rotary brush.

Claim 5

In a sheet feeder system as recited in claim 3, and means for advancing said rotary brush against the trailing edges of said stack of sheets.

Claim 6

In a sheet feeder system as recited in claim 3, wherein means are provided for selectively advancing said rotary brush against the trailing edges of said stack of sheets to drive the margins of said stack of sheets.

Claim 7

In a sheet feeder system as recited in claim 3, and means are provided for reversing the direction of rotation of said rotary brush to drive said margins of said stack of sheets out of range of engagement by said engaging means.

Claim 8

A continuous bias arrangement for consolidating at least the margins of lowermost sheets of a stack of sheets, comprising, a rotary brush having flexible bristles with end portions that are extendable normally into a position ultimately occupied by a portion of said stack of sheets, and means for continuously advancing said bristles of said rotary brush against a side of said portion of said stack of sheets to consolidate the margins thereof.

Claim 9

A continuous bias arrangement for consolidating at least the margins of lowermost sheets of a stack of sheets, comprising, a rotary brush having flexible bristles with end portions that are extendable normally into a position ultimately occupied by a portion of said stack of sheets, and means for continuously advancing said bristles of said rotary brush against a side of said portion of said stack of sheets to consolidate the margins thereof.

Claim 10

A continuous bias arrangement as recited in claim 7, and reciprocating means biased to contact the underside of the lowermost sheet and to engage the edge thereof for removing the lowermost sheet from said stack of sheets.

Claim 11

A continuous bias arrangement as recited in claim 8, wherein said reciprocating means includes at least one pawl.

Claim 12

A sheet feeder system for successively feeding the lowermost sheet in a plane parallel to said sheet from a stack of said sheets for further processing of said sheet, comprising, structure defining a hopper for a stack of sheets to be fed by said feeder system, means for retaining and aligning said stack of sheets in said hopper, a feeding bar assembly positioned beneath said stack of sheets and arranged to reciprocate in contact thereunder and having a feed bar, sheet engaging means positioned upon said feed bar for engaging the trailing edge of said lowermost sheet, and means for continuously driving the adjacent trailing edges of at least some of said sheets in said stack of sheets against the lowermost sheet so that said engaging means on the rearward stroke of said feed bar positions itself for engagement with the trailing edge of said lowermost sheet and upon forward stroke of said feed bar extracts said lowermost sheet from said stack of sheets.

Claim 13

A sheet feeder system for successively feeding the lowermost sheet in a plane parallel to said sheet from a stack of said sheets for further processing of said sheet, comprising, structure defining a hopper for a stack of sheets to be fed by said feeder system, means for retaining and aligning said stack of sheets in said hopper, a feeding bar assembly positioned beneath said stack of sheets and arranged to reciprocate in contact thereunder and having a feed bar, sheet engaging means positioned upon said feed bar for engaging the trailing edge of said lowermost sheet, and means for continuously driving the adjacent trailing edges of at least some of said sheets in said stack of sheets against the lowermost sheet so that said engaging means on the rearward stroke of said feed bar positions itself for engagement with the trailing edge of said lowermost sheet and upon forward stroke of said feed bar extracts said lowermost sheet from said stack of sheets.

Claim 14

The sheet feeder system of claim 10, wherein a plurality of sheet engaging means are positioned in spaced relationship upon said feed bar to engage the trailing edge of the lowermost sheet of said stack of sheets at a plurality of spaced positions.

Claim 15

The sheet feeder system of claim 10, wherein said driving means includes a rotary brush.

Claim 16

The sheet feeder system as recited in claim 12, and means for advancing said rotary brush against the trailing edges of said stack of sheets.

Claim 17

The sheet feeder system as recited in claim 12, and means for selectively advancing said rotary brush against the trailing edges of said stack of sheets to drive the margins of said stack of sheets.

Claim 18

The sheet feeder system as recited in claim 14, and means for reversing the direction of rotation of said rotary brush to drive said margins of said stack of sheets out or range of engagement by said engaging means.

Claim 19

In a sheet feeder system as recited in claim 1, and means for operating continuously said driving means independently of the movement of said feeding bar assembly.

Claim 20

In a sheet feeder system as recited in claim 1, and means for supporting at least a trailing edge of a next lowermost sheet after said lowermost sheet has been extracted from the bottom of said stack of sheets by the forward stroke of said feed bar, and said supporting means positioned for permitting said next lowermost sheet to be engaged by said engaging means when said feed bat is moved on the rearward stroke thereof in preparation for the extraction of said next lowermost sheet from said stack.

Claim 21

In a sheet feeder system as recited in claim 17, wherein the supporting means includes a ledge which extends partially into a rear portion of said hopper adjacent to and below a rearwardmost position assumed by said engaging means.

Claim 22

In a sheet feeder system as recited in claim 10, and means for operating continuously said driving means independently of the movement of said feeding bar assembly.

Claim 23

In a sheet feeder system as recited in claim 10, and means for supporting at least a trailing edge of a next lowermost sheet after said lowermost sheet has been extracted from the bottom of said stack of sheets by the forward stroke of said feed bar, and said supporting means positioned for permitting said next lowermost sheet to be engaged by said engaging means when said feed bar is moved on the rearward stroke thereof in preparation for the extraction of said lowermost sheet from said stack.

Claim 24

In a sheet feeder system as recited in claim 20, wherein the supporting means includes a ledge which extends partially into a rear portion of said hopper adjacent to and below a rearwardmost position assumed by said engaging means.