Hopper loading method and apparatus

Claim 1

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carriage disposed above said conveyer means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable relative to said carriage between a retracted position in which said follower member is spaced from a series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, biasing means for urging said carriage toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, operator means for moving said follower member from the extended position to the retracted position to disengage said follower member from the series of on-edge sheet material articles, manually engageable handle means for effecting movement of said carriage away from the hopper against the influence of said biasing means to move said follower member relative to the series of on-edge sheet material articles, and manually operable actuator means for effecting operating of said operator means to move said follower member to the retracted position to thereby facilitate the positioning of additional on-edge sheet material articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles, said manually operable actuator means including trigger means mouonted on said handle means to enable an operator to grip said handle means and actuate said trigger means with one hand.

Claim 2

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carriage disposed above said conveyer means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable relative to said carriage between a retracted position in which said follower member is spaced from a series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, biasing means for urging said carriage toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, operator means for moving said follower member from the extended position to the retracted position to disengage said follower member from the series of on-edge sheet material articles, manually engageable handle means for effecting movement of said carriage away from the hopper against the influence of said biasing means to move said follower member relative to the series of on-edge sheet material articles, and manually operable actuator means for effecting operating of said operator means to move said follower member to the retracted position to thereby facilitate the positioning of additional on-edge sheet material articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles, said manually operable actuator means including trigger means mouonted on said handle means to enable an operator to grip said handle means and actuate said trigger means with one hand.

Claim 4

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carriage disposed above said conveyer means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable relative to said carriage between a retracted position in which said follower member is spaced from a series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, biasing means for Urging said carriage toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, operator means for moving said follower member from the extended position to the retracted position to disengage said follower member from the series of on-edge sheet material articles, said operator means including a piston and cylinder assembly which is connected with said follower member and valve means for effecting operation of said piston and cylinder assembly to move said follower member between the extended and retracted positions, and manually operable actuator means for effecting operation of said operator means to move said follower member to the retracted position to thereby facilitate the positioning of additional on-edge sheet material articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles.

Claim 5

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carriage disposed above said conveyer means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable relative to said carriage between a retracted position in which said follower member is spaced from a series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, biasing means for Urging said carriage toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, operator means for moving said follower member from the extended position to the retracted position to disengage said follower member from the series of on-edge sheet material articles, said operator means including a piston and cylinder assembly which is connected with said follower member and valve means for effecting operation of said piston and cylinder assembly to move said follower member between the extended and retracted positions, and manually operable actuator means for effecting operation of said operator means to move said follower member to the retracted position to thereby facilitate the positioning of additional on-edge sheet material articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles.

Claim 9

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carriage disposed above said conveyer means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable relative to said carriage between a retracted position in which said follower member is spaced from a series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, biasing means for urging said carriage toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, operator means for moving said follower member from the extended position to the retracted position to disengage said follower member from the series of on-edge sheet material articles, handle means for effecting movement of said carriage and follower member away from the hopper against the influence of said biasing means, and manually operable actuator means for effecting operation of said operator means to move said follower member to the retracted position to thereby facilitate the positioning of additional on-edge sheet material articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles, said manually operable actuator means being disposed adjacent to said handle means to enable said handle means to be grasped and said manually operable actuator means actuated with one hand.

Claim 10

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carriage disposed above said conveyer means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable relative to said carriage between a retracted position in which said follower member is spaced from a series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, biasing means for urging said carriage toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, operator means for moving said follower member from the extended position to the retracted position to disengage said follower member from the series of on-edge sheet material articles, handle means for effecting movement of said carriage and follower member away from the hopper against the influence of said biasing means, and manually operable actuator means for effecting operation of said operator means to move said follower member to the retracted position to thereby facilitate the positioning of additional on-edge sheet material articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles, said manually operable actuator means being disposed adjacent to said handle means to enable said handle means to be grasped and said manually operable actuator means actuated with one hand.

Claim 11

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carRiage disposed above said conveyer means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable relative to said carriage between a retracted position in which said follower member is spaced from a series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, biasing means for urging said carriage toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, handle means for effecting movement of said carriage and follower member away from the hopper, operator means for moving said follower member from the extended position to the retracted position to disengage said follower member from the series of on-edge sheet material articles, said operator means including a piston and cylinder assembly disposed within said handle means and connected with said follower member, and manually operable actuator means for effecting operation of said operator means to move said follower member to the retracted position to thereby facilitate the positioning of additional on-edge sheet material articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles.

Claim 12

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carRiage disposed above said conveyer means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable relative to said carriage between a retracted position in which said follower member is spaced from a series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, biasing means for urging said carriage toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, handle means for effecting movement of said carriage and follower member away from the hopper, operator means for moving said follower member from the extended position to the retracted position to disengage said follower member from the series of on-edge sheet material articles, said operator means including a piston and cylinder assembly disposed within said handle means and connected with said follower member, and manually operable actuator means for effecting operation of said operator means to move said follower member to the retracted position to thereby facilitate the positioning of additional on-edge sheet material articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles.

Claim 14

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carriage disposed above said conveyer means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable relative to said carriage between a retracted position in which said follower member is spaced from a series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, biasing means for urging said carriage toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, operator means for moving said follower member from the extended position to the retracted position to disengage said followerr member from the series of on-edge sheet material arricles, said operator means being operable to move said follower member from the retracted position to the extended position, means for limiting the speed of movement of said follower member from the retracted position to the extended position to a speed which is less than a predetermined maximum speed, and manually operable actuator means for effecting operation of said operator means to move said follower member to the retracted position to thereby facilitate the positioning of additional on-edge sheet material articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles.

Claim 15

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carriage disposed above said conveyer means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable relative to said carriage between a retracted position in which said follower member is spaced from a series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, biasing means for urging said carriage toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, operator means for moving said follower member from the extended position to the retracted position to disengage said followerr member from the series of on-edge sheet material arricles, said operator means being operable to move said follower member from the retracted position to the extended position, means for limiting the speed of movement of said follower member from the retracted position to the extended position to a speed which is less than a predetermined maximum speed, and manually operable actuator means for effecting operation of said operator means to move said follower member to the retracted position to thereby facilitate the positioning of additional on-edge sheet material articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles.

Claim 16

A method of loading additional on-edge sheet material articles into a series of on-edge sheet material articles which are being transported toward a hopper and are being engaged by a follower member having a forward surface which is disposed in pressure engagement with a rearward end of the series of on-edge sheet material articles, said method comprising the steps of positioning the additional on-edge sheet material articles in engagement with a rearward surface of the follower member so that the follower member is disposed between the rearward end of the series of on-edge sheet material articles and a forward end of the additional on-edge sheet material articles, moving the follower member out from between the series of on-edge sheet material articles and the additional on-edge sheet material articles, and thereafter moving the follower member into pressure engagement with the rearward end of the additional on-edge sheet material articles, said step of moving the follower member out from between the series of on-edge sheet material articles and the additional on-edge sheet material articles includes the step of moving the follower member from an extended position to a retracted position at a first speed and said step of moving the follower member into pressure engagement with the rearward end of the additional on-edge sheet material articles includes the step of moving the follower member from the retracted position to the extended position at a second speed which is substantially slower than said first speed.

Claim 17

A method of loading additional on-edge sheet material articles into a series of on-edge sheet material articles which are being transported toward a hopper and are being engaged by a follower member having a forward surface which is disposed in pressure engagement with a rearward end of the series of on-edge sheet material articles, said method comprising the steps of positioning the additional on-edge sheet material articles in engagement with a rearward surface of the follower member so that the follower member is disposed between the rearward end of the series of on-edge sheet material articles and a forward end of the additional on-edge sheet material articles, moving the follower member out from between the series of on-edge sheet material articles and the additional on-edge sheet material articles, and thereafter moving the follower member into pressure engagement with the rearward end of the additional on-edge sheet material articles, said step of moving the follower member out from between the series of on-edge sheet material articles and the additional on-edge sheet material articles includes the step of moving the follower member from an extended position to a retracted position at a first speed and said step of moving the follower member into pressure engagement with the rearward end of the additional on-edge sheet material articles includes the step of moving the follower member from the retracted position to the extended position at a second speed which is substantially slower than said first speed.

Claim 20

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carriage disposed above said conveyer means, a follower member mounted on said carriage, said follower member being movable relative to said carrige between a retracted position in which said follower member is spaced from a series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, motor means mounted on said carriage for moving said follower member between the retracted and extended positions, manually actuatable control means mounted on the carriage for effecting operation of said motor means to move said follower member between the extended and retracted positions, biasing means for urging said carriage toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, and handle means mounted on said carriage for effecting movement of said carriage and follower member away from the hopper against the influence of said biasing means when said follower member is in the retracted position.

Claim 21

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carriage disposed above said conveyer means, a follower member mounted on said carriage, said follower member being movable relative to said carrige between a retracted position in which said follower member is spaced from a series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, motor means mounted on said carriage for moving said follower member between the retracted and extended positions, manually actuatable control means mounted on the carriage for effecting operation of said motor means to move said follower member between the extended and retracted positions, biasing means for urging said carriage toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, and handle means mounted on said carriage for effecting movement of said carriage and follower member away from the hopper against the influence of said biasing means when said follower member is in the retracted position.

Claim 22

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carriage disposed above said conveyer means and movable relative to said conveyer means along a horizontal path disposed above a series of on-edge sheet material articles disposed on said conveyer means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable vertically relative to said carriage between a retracted position in which said follower member is disposed above the series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, motor means mounted on said carriage for moving said follower member vertically between the retracted and extended positions, motor control means for effecting operation of said motor means to move said follower member beTween the extended and retracted positions, biasing means for urging said carriage along the horizontal path toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, and handle means connected with said carriage for effecting movement of said carriage and follower member along the horizontal path in a direction away from the hopper against the influence of said biasing means when said follower member is in the retracted position.

Claim 23

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising conveyer means for transporting the sheet material articles to the hopper, a movable carriage disposed above said conveyer means and movable relative to said conveyer means along a horizontal path disposed above a series of on-edge sheet material articles disposed on said conveyer means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable vertically relative to said carriage between a retracted position in which said follower member is disposed above the series of on-edge sheet material articles on said conveyer means and an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, motor means mounted on said carriage for moving said follower member vertically between the retracted and extended positions, motor control means for effecting operation of said motor means to move said follower member beTween the extended and retracted positions, biasing means for urging said carriage along the horizontal path toward the hopper to press said follower member against trailing articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position to thereby hold the trailing article in an on-edge orientation, and handle means connected with said carriage for effecting movement of said carriage and follower member along the horizontal path in a direction away from the hopper against the influence of said biasing means when said follower member is in the retracted position.

Claim 24

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising a first longitudinally extending conveyer means for engaging the lowermost edge portion of a series of on-edge sheet material articles and for conveying the series of on-edge sheet material articles along a horizontal path with major side surfaces of the sheet material articles in an upright orientation, second conveyer means for sequentially engaging a major side of each sheet material article in the series of on-edge sheet material articles in turn while the engaged article is disposed in an upright on-edge orientation on said first conveyer means and transporting the engaged sheet material articles forwardly and upwardly away from said first conveyer means toward the hopper in a lapped stream, drive means for effecting operation of said first conveyer means to advance the series of on-edge sheet material articles toward said second conveyer means at a first speed and for effecting operation of said second conveyer means to move the lapped stream of sheet material articles toward the hopper at a second speed which is greater than the said first speed, track means disposed above said first conveyer means and having a longitudinal axis extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of said first conveyer means, and follower means movable along said track means for holding a trailing sheet material article in the series of sheet material articles in an on-edge orientation as the series of sheet material articles is advanced by said first conveyer means, said follower means including a movable carriage connected with said track means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable vertically downwardly relative to said carriage from a retracted position in which said follower member is disposed above the series of on-edge sheet material articles to an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, biasing means for urging said carriage to move along said track means toward the second conveyer means to press said follower member against the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position, and operator means disposed on said carriage for moving said follower member upwardly from the extended position to the retracted position to disengage said follower member from the series of on-edge sheet material articles to thereby facilitate the positioning of additional on-edge sheet material articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles.

Claim 25

An apparatus for loading a hopper with sheet material articles, said apparatus comprising a first longitudinally extending conveyer means for engaging the lowermost edge portion of a series of on-edge sheet material articles and for conveying the series of on-edge sheet material articles along a horizontal path with major side surfaces of the sheet material articles in an upright orientation, second conveyer means for sequentially engaging a major side of each sheet material article in the series of on-edge sheet material articles in turn while the engaged article is disposed in an upright on-edge orientation on said first conveyer means and transporting the engaged sheet material articles forwardly and upwardly away from said first conveyer means toward the hopper in a lapped stream, drive means for effecting operation of said first conveyer means to advance the series of on-edge sheet material articles toward said second conveyer means at a first speed and for effecting operation of said second conveyer means to move the lapped stream of sheet material articles toward the hopper at a second speed which is greater than the said first speed, track means disposed above said first conveyer means and having a longitudinal axis extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of said first conveyer means, and follower means movable along said track means for holding a trailing sheet material article in the series of sheet material articles in an on-edge orientation as the series of sheet material articles is advanced by said first conveyer means, said follower means including a movable carriage connected with said track means, a follower member connected with said carriage, said follower member being movable vertically downwardly relative to said carriage from a retracted position in which said follower member is disposed above the series of on-edge sheet material articles to an extended position in which said follower member engages the series of on-edge sheet material articles, biasing means for urging said carriage to move along said track means toward the second conveyer means to press said follower member against the series of on-edge sheet material articles when said follower member is in the extended position, and operator means disposed on said carriage for moving said follower member upwardly from the extended position to the retracted position to disengage said follower member from the series of on-edge sheet material articles to thereby facilitate the positioning of additional on-edge sheet material articles in the series of on-edge sheet material articles.