Apparatus for feeding lifts of sheets without marking same

Claim 2

In apparatus for feeding lifts of flexible sheets individually and successively from a stack of such sheets, said apparatus being of the type having a bottom feed magazine with a gateway and gripper jaws arranged to grip the leading edges of each successive separated lift and extract the same from under said stack the combination of: mechanical lift segregation means including a sharp-pointed, small-diameter, segregation needle mounted in front of said magazine at a predetermined height above said bottom and mechanism for reciprocating said needle rectilinearly, in parallelism with the plane of the sheets to pierce between superposed sheets without visible damage thereto for segregating a predetermined number of said sheets as a lift; and mechanical lift separation means, including a hinged bottom plate on said magazine, extending under the leading edges of the sheets therein, said plate supporting said needle for reciprocation relative thereto and including mechanism for pivoting said plate, needle and the leading edges of said lift segregated thereunder downwardly to form a separation gap and to permit said gripper jaws to engage and extract the same.

Claim 3

Apparatus as specified in claim 1, plus: at least one pressure clamp member mounted in front of said magazine to move independently of said needle, said member having a face adapted to bear against the leading edges of the next successive lift in said stack to frictionally restrain the same during segregation of the bottommost lift by said needle; and mechanism for moving said member toward and away from said stack.

Claim 4

Apparatus as specified in claim 1, plus: at least one hold back member mounted in front of said magazine to move independently of said needle, said member having a hold back finger adapted to enter the gap created by said lift segregation means to hold back the leading edges of the next successive lift in said stack during segregation, separation and extraction of the bottommost lift therein; and mechanism for moving said member toward and away from said stack.

Claim 5

Apparatus as specified in claim 1, plus: pressure clamp means mounted on said magazine to move toward and away from the leading edges of each bottommost lift in said stack and frictionally clamp the same against feeding during said separation of the bottommost lift therein; hold back finger means mounted on said magazine to move toward and away from the leading edges of said stack and enter the gap created during segregation by said needle to restrain and support the same against feeding during said separation of the bottommost lift therein; and mechanism for moving said clamp means and said finger means independently of said segregation and separation means, but in synchronization therewith.

Claim 6

Apparatus as specified in claim 1, plus: lift riser means on the center of the hinged bottom plate of said magazine for raising the sheets on the bottommost lift therein above the level of said bottom plate to compensate for any bow therein.

Claim 7

In apparatus for feeding lifts of flexible sheets individually and successively from a stack of such sheets said apparatus including a magazine for supporting a stack of said sheets with said sheets continually urged toward one end thereof and including a pair of gripper jaws movable to grip the separated leading edges of each successive endmost lift, and pull the lift out of said magazine, the combination of mechanical lift segregation means including at least one sharp pointed, small-diameter needle and reciprocation mechanism to pierce said needle into said stack at a predetermined distance from said end in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the sheets for segregating a predetermined number of sheets without visibly damaging the same; mechanical lift separation means, operably connected to said Lift segregation means, for moving said needle, while so pierced into said stack, in a direction to separate the leading edges of the sheets segregated thereby away from said stack and to form a gap therebetween; and hold back finger means, independent of said segregation and separation means for preventing separation and feed of the remaining sheets in said stack.

Claim 8

In apparatus for feeding lifts of flexible sheets individually and successively from a stack of such sheets said apparatus including a magazine for supporting a stack of said sheets with said sheets continually urged toward one end thereof and including a pair of gripper jaws movable to grip the separated leading edges of each successive endmost lift, and pull the lift out of said magazine, the combination of mechanical lift segregation means including at least one sharp pointed, small-diameter needle and reciprocation mechanism to pierce said needle into said stack at a predetermined distance from said end in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the sheets for segregating a predetermined number of sheets without visibly damaging the same; mechanical lift separation means, operably connected to said Lift segregation means, for moving said needle, while so pierced into said stack, in a direction to separate the leading edges of the sheets segregated thereby away from said stack and to form a gap therebetween; and hold back finger means, independent of said segregation and separation means for preventing separation and feed of the remaining sheets in said stack.

Claim 9

Apparatus as specified in claim 6, wherein: said magazine is of the bottom feed type and includes a hinged bottom plate under the leading edges of said sheets normally supporting the same in a horizontal plane; and said needle is fixed on a block upstanding from the front edge of said plate, and said block is reciprocable relative to said plate; whereby downward pivoting of said plate moves said needle downwardly to separate the leading edges of the sheets segregated by said needle away from said stack.

Claim 10

Apparatus as specified in claim 6, wherein: said magazine includes a pivoted bottom plate, said needle is mounted to move downwardly with said plate and said lift separation means pivots said plate and needle downwardly to create a gap permitting entrance of said hold back fingers and then retracts said needle outwardly to a position out of the feed path of said lift for permitting extraction thereof by said gripper jaws.

Claim 11

In apparatus for feeding lifts of limp, flexible sheets individually and successively from a stack of said sheets supported on the bottom of a magazine, said apparatus being of the type having a pair of gripper jaws adapted to grip the leading edges of each bottommost lift separated from said stack and to pull said lift out from under said stack; the combination of a hinged bottom plate extending under the leading edge portions of the sheets in said stack and supporting said portions in the plane of said sheets, said support being pivoted to said magazine bottom; separation mechanism for pivoting said plate downwardly to permit said leading edge portions to bend downwardly away from said stack; a sharp segregation needle mounted on said plate at a predetermined height thereabove; and segregation mechanism for reciprocating said needle to pierce between the leading edge portions of the sheets in said stack, in parallelism with the plane thereof, to segregate a predetermined number thereof; whereby said segregation by said needle creates no visible damage to said sheets.

Claim 12

In apparatus for feeding lifts of limp, flexible sheets individually and successively from a stack of said sheets supported on the bottom of a magazine, said apparatus being of the type having a pair of gripper jaws adapted to grip the leading edges of each bottommost lift separated from said stack and to pull said lift out from under said stack; the combination of a hinged bottom plate extending under the leading edge portions of the sheets in said stack and supporting said portions in the plane of said sheets, said support being pivoted to said magazine bottom; separation mechanism for pivoting said plate downwardly to permit said leading edge portions to bend downwardly away from said stack; a sharp segregation needle mounted on said plate at a predetermined height thereabove; and segregation mechanism for reciprocating said needle to pierce between the leading edge portions of the sheets in said stack, in parallelism with the plane thereof, to segregate a predetermined number thereof; whereby said segregation by said needle creates no visible damage to said sheets.

Claim 13

Sheet feeding apparatus of the type including a magazine for supporting a stack of intermixed limp and self-supporting sheets and grippers for gripping and extracting lifts of said sheets individually and successively from the gateway end of said magazine, said apparatus comprising: a support hinge-pivoted at the gateway end of said magazine, said support being normally in a plane parallel with the plane of the sheets therein but being pivotable out of said plane; a sharp-pointed, small-diameter needle mounted on the free end of said support to reciprocate in a plane parallel to the plane thereof for piercing between adjacent sheets of said stack, at a predetermined distance from the plane of said plate to segregate a predetermined number thereof into a ''''lift''''; and mechanism for piercing said needle into said stack, pivoting said plate and needle away from said stack to separate said lift and form a separation gap and then to retract said needle to permit said lift to be extracted from said gateway end by said grippers.

Claim 14

Sheet feeding apparatus of the type including a magazine for supporting a stack of intermixed limp and self-supporting sheets and grippers for gripping and extracting lifts of said sheets individually and successively from the gateway end of said magazine, said apparatus comprising: a support hinge-pivoted at the gateway end of said magazine, said support being normally in a plane parallel with the plane of the sheets therein but being pivotable out of said plane; a sharp-pointed, small-diameter needle mounted on the free end of said support to reciprocate in a plane parallel to the plane thereof for piercing between adjacent sheets of said stack, at a predetermined distance from the plane of said plate to segregate a predetermined number thereof into a ''''lift''''; and mechanism for piercing said needle into said stack, pivoting said plate and needle away from said stack to separate said lift and form a separation gap and then to retract said needle to permit said lift to be extracted from said gateway end by said grippers.