US3807553A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Sheet material stacking apparatus
Assignee: FMC Corp
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Filing: 1972-03-13
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Granted: 1974-04-30
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Expires: 1992-03-13
Abstract
Abstract A horizontal conveyor transports sheets of material in a given direction along a line of travel. At stations along said line the sheets can be selectively diverted downward through the conveyor to vertical stacks thereunder. Automatic controls are provided for sorting the sheets of material according to size, stacking the assorted sheets, and discharging the stacks when full.
Inventors
- 👤 R Billett
- 👤 G Niemann
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 14:02
CPC Classifications
B; B65; B65H; B65H31/00; B65H31/30; B65H31/3054; B07; B07C; B07C5/00; B07C5/04; B07C5/12; B07C5/14; B65H29/00; B65H29/16; B65H29/26; B65H29/36; B65H29/58; B65H29/60; B65H31/24; B65H43/00; B65H2404/00; B65H2404/30; B65H2404/31; B65H2404/313; B65H2701/00; B65H2701/10; B65H2701/19; B65H2701/1938; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S209/00; Y10S209/933; Y10S414/00; Y10S414/10; Y10S414/102; Y10S414/103
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 25
Claim 1
Independent Claim
230 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus comprising a substantially horizontal conveyor having a series of flights for carrying sheet material thereon in a given direction of travel along a line with each flight extending laterally of the line of travel in a position with an upper surface of the flight normally horizontal and being movable to an inclined position in relationship to the line of travel forming an opening between the inclined flight and an adjacent flight through which sheet material can be fed from a supported position on the horizontal conveyor to a location therebelow; each flight when in the inclined position having a portion exTending below and above the level of sheet material carried on the conveyor and slanting rearwardly downward from its position above the level of sheet material in order to guide sheet material through the opening in front of the inclined flight; a stop located above the horizontal conveyor in a position blocking the forward progression of a sheet of material on the conveyor; and means for moving a flight located behind the sheet of material to the inclined position, whereby the sheet of material is engaged along its forward edge by the stop while the rear edge of the sheet of material strikes said portion of the inclined flight and is fed downwardly through the opening in front of the inclined flight as the conveyor advances.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
230 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus comprising a substantially horizontal conveyor having a series of flights for carrying sheet material thereon in a given direction of travel along a line with each flight extending laterally of the line of travel in a position with an upper surface of the flight normally horizontal and being movable to an inclined position in relationship to the line of travel forming an opening between the inclined flight and an adjacent flight through which sheet material can be fed from a supported position on the horizontal conveyor to a location therebelow; each flight when in the inclined position having a portion exTending below and above the level of sheet material carried on the conveyor and slanting rearwardly downward from its position above the level of sheet material in order to guide sheet material through the opening in front of the inclined flight; a stop located above the horizontal conveyor in a position blocking the forward progression of a sheet of material on the conveyor; and means for moving a flight located behind the sheet of material to the inclined position, whereby the sheet of material is engaged along its forward edge by the stop while the rear edge of the sheet of material strikes said portion of the inclined flight and is fed downwardly through the opening in front of the inclined flight as the conveyor advances.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
54 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein said stop is mounted for movement from said position blocking the forward progression of sheet material on the conveyor to a position allowing sheet material to pass thereon; and means for moving the stop between said sheet blocking position and said sheet passing position.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
45 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 2, including a transition conveyor for spacing sheets of material at a distance sufficient for raising a flight or lowering the stop between sheets, said transition conveyor feeding the sheets of material so spaced to the conveyor.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
30 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 10 wherein said transition conveyor includes a section that can be moved to a position for discharging scrap material from the conveyor.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
79 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 1, including an elevator positioned under the series of flights extending upstream of the conveyor from the stop to receive sheet material fed between flights, and means for regulating the height of the elevator to maintain the top of a stack of sheet material thereon at a constant elevation so that each sheet added to the stack will drop uniformly with edges thereof being aligned with the edges of the stack.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
52 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 1, including means for sensing the size of sheet material moving with the conveyor, and means for actuating said flight moving means to move a flight to an inclined position in response to sensing a sheet of material that is of a predetermined size.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
53 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 6, including means for actuating said gate moving means to elevate the gate in response to sensing a sheet of material that is under a predetermined minimum size and to lower the gate in response to sensing a sheet of over said predetermined minimum size.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
94 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 6, wherein said sheet size sensing means includes a series of photocells arranged in a line extending transversely of the conveyor, a pulse generator for generating a pulse in response to a given amount of movement of the horizontal conveyor, and a shift register, said pulse generator being synchronized with movement of the horizontal conveyor so that the photocell readings are allowed to enter into the shift register as distinct bits only when no conveyor flights are positioned in the line of sight of the photocells.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
47 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein said series of photocells include two photocells spaced a short distance apart near one side edge of the horizontal conveyor and two photocells spaced a short distance apart near the opposite side edge of the horizontal conveyor.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
28 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein said shift register records the size and position of each sheet of material passing over the horizontal conveyor.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
72 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein each of said horizontal conveyor flights has an arm at one end thereof and a cam follower mounted at one end of said arm, and said flight moving means include a cam for contacting the cam follower of a flight to be Moved so as to cause the cam follower to move to a position in which the conveyor flight is open.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
117 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 1, including a transition conveyor for receiving sheets of material of various lengths at a given rate of feed and spacing the sheets so fed sufficiently for subsequent handling on the horizontal conveyor, said transition conveyor including a portion having a horizontal velocity greater than said given rate of feed but less than the velocity of the horizontal conveyor, and a contact means positioned to hold sheets in contact with that portion of the transition conveyor having the described velocity for movement therewith, whereby total spacing both in front and in back of a sheet is proportional to the dimension of the sheet in the direction of conveyor travel.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
67 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 1 including a plurality of bars extending longitudinally of the conveyor, said bars having upwardly inclined upstream ends for receiving sheet material thereunder, and said bars being pivotally mounted to swing upwardly from the conveyor in a downstream direction while maintaining a substantially parallel relationship with the conveyor for restraining sheet material passing thereunder from curling or buckling upward.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
31 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein each of said flights span the space along the line of travel between adjacent flights to form a continuous support surface.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
31 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said flights are arranged in overlapping relationship with adjacent flights along the line of travel to form a continuous support surface.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
102 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein each of said conveyor flights includes a transverse cross bar and a plurality of supports spaced laterally of the cross bar and projecting longitudinally forward thereof in the direction of conveyor travel, and wherein said stop includes a plurality of spaced stop plates extending downwardly in the lateral spaces between said plurality of supports to a level below the upper surface of the supports in the normal horizontal position of said flight, said stop plates being laterally spaced to avoid interference with the supports when a flight is in said inclined position.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
155 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 16, wherein said stop is mounted for movement from said position blocking the forward progression of sheet material on the conveyor to a position allowing sheet material to pass thereon, said apparatus further including a plurality of hold-down means extending longitudinally of the conveyor past the position of the stop at an elevation above the conveyor and allowing sheet material carried upon the conveyor to pass thereunder while being restrained from curling or buckling upward, said longitudinally extending hold-down means being spaced laterally of the conveyor in positions to avoid interference with the supports on the flights and with the stop plates, whereby a sheet of material positioned below the longitudinally extending hold-down means, above the conveyor, in abutment with the stop and forward of an inclined flight is restrained while being fed downwardly through the opening in front of the inclined flight as the conveyor advances.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
24 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus as described in claim 17 wherein each of said longitudinally extending hold-down means includes a plurality of longitudinally overlapping bars.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
152 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus comprising an endless conveyor having a plurality of uniformly spaced flights mounted for movement thereon, said conveyor having a substantially horizontal run, means for feeding sheet material on said conveyor so that it is moved along said horizontal run, a gate mounted above said horizontal run and positioned so as to abut the leading edge of a sheet on said conveyor and restrain it from movement with the conveyor, means at the upstream enD of said horizontal run of the conveyor for sensing the length of a sheet of material on the conveyor, and means operative with said sensing means for moving a selected flight behind the trailing edge of a sheet on said conveyor whereby said sheet will be ejected downwardly through said conveyor when the leading edge of said sheet strikes said gate and deposited onto a stack located beneath said horizontal run of the conveyor.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
152 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus comprising an endless conveyor having a plurality of uniformly spaced flights mounted for movement thereon, said conveyor having a substantially horizontal run, means for feeding sheet material on said conveyor so that it is moved along said horizontal run, a gate mounted above said horizontal run and positioned so as to abut the leading edge of a sheet on said conveyor and restrain it from movement with the conveyor, means at the upstream enD of said horizontal run of the conveyor for sensing the length of a sheet of material on the conveyor, and means operative with said sensing means for moving a selected flight behind the trailing edge of a sheet on said conveyor whereby said sheet will be ejected downwardly through said conveyor when the leading edge of said sheet strikes said gate and deposited onto a stack located beneath said horizontal run of the conveyor.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
101 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus according to claim 19 including means for feeding said sheet material towards the horizontal run of said conveyor at a first speed less than the linear speed of the conveyor, a transition conveyor positioned between said feeding means and said conveyor; said transition conveyor being operable to move said sheet material at a speed intermediate of said feeding means speed and said conveyor speed, and hold down means for maintaining said sheet material on said transition conveyor and causing the sheet material to move at said intermediate speed when it is in engagement with said transition conveyor.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
38 words
Sheet material stacking apparatus according to claim 21 wherein each conveyor flight includes a plurality of supports spaced laterally of the conveyor and extending forwardly in the direction of movement of the conveyor to overlap the preceding flight.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
209 words
Sheet material sorting and stacking apparatus comprising a conveyor having a series of flights for carrying sheet material thereon in a given direction along a line of travel with each flight extending laterally of the line of travel, a gate mounted above the conveyor for movement between a position allowing sheet material to pass on the conveyor and a position blocking the forward progression of sheet material on the conveyor, means for directing a trailing edge of a sheet of material to feed downwardly through an opening between flights as the conveyor advances when a leading edge of the sheet material is engaged by the gate, sheet sensing means located upstream of the conveyor from the gate for sensing one of the transversely extending edges of sheet material carried thereon, control means responsive to the sensing of a sheet edge by the sheet sensing means for coordinating gate movement to a desired position with advancement of the leading edge of each sheet of material to the gate, and further control means responsive to the sensing of a sheet trailing edge by the sheet sensing means for coordinating operation of said trailing edge directing means with the location of the trailing edge of the sheet of material on the conveyor.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
209 words
Sheet material sorting and stacking apparatus comprising a conveyor having a series of flights for carrying sheet material thereon in a given direction along a line of travel with each flight extending laterally of the line of travel, a gate mounted above the conveyor for movement between a position allowing sheet material to pass on the conveyor and a position blocking the forward progression of sheet material on the conveyor, means for directing a trailing edge of a sheet of material to feed downwardly through an opening between flights as the conveyor advances when a leading edge of the sheet material is engaged by the gate, sheet sensing means located upstream of the conveyor from the gate for sensing one of the transversely extending edges of sheet material carried thereon, control means responsive to the sensing of a sheet edge by the sheet sensing means for coordinating gate movement to a desired position with advancement of the leading edge of each sheet of material to the gate, and further control means responsive to the sensing of a sheet trailing edge by the sheet sensing means for coordinating operation of said trailing edge directing means with the location of the trailing edge of the sheet of material on the conveyor.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1977-04-29 | 1977-10-29 | 1978-04-30 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1981-04-29 | 1981-10-29 | 1982-04-30 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1985-04-29 | 1985-10-29 | 1986-04-30 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |