Sprocket drive and stripper arrangement for computer form feeder apparatus

Claim 1

In a computer form feed apparatus for feeding a web having predeterminedly spaced apertures along an edge thereof along a copyboard having upper and lower surfaces and a free end, said web moving over said upper surface about the free end of said copyboard and along said lower surface, the upper and lower surfaces of said copyboard being predeterminedly spaced from each other, sprocket drive device means mounted on said copyboard for transporting said web, including in combination; first and second spaced wheels having diameters less than the distance between said copyboard surfaces and one of which includes a sprocket wheel having a plurality of projections extending radially outwardly about the periphery thereof, endless pin chain means encircling said wheels for movement between said wheels and about the peripheries thereof, said pin chain means including a plurality of pins extending therefrom, said pins being of a predetermined diameter and spaced predeterminedly from each other for receipt in the spaced apertures in said web, means coupled to said sprocket wheel for driving the latter rotatably thereby to impart movement along said path to said pin chain means, and stripper means along which said web passes mounted adjacent said pin chain means and including upper and lower central web guide portions extending between said wheels on opposite sides thereof along planes passing generally through the base of said pins as they are moved between said wheels, and upper and lower end guide portions extending from opposite ends of said upper and lower central guide portions, respectively, toward the upper and lower surfaces of said copyboard, respectively, each said end guide portion being inclined from a corresponding central guide portion toward one of a respective upper and lower surface of said copyboard at a relatively shallow angle for lifting the web from said pins as the web is transported from one of said central guide portions to a respective one of said upper and lower copyboard surfaces and to guide said web onto said pins when the web is transported from one of said upper and lower copyboard surfaces to a respective one of said central guide portions, thereby to avoid tearing of said web about said apertures.