Signature gathering machine

Claim 1

A signature gatherer machine comprising: a plurality of spaced hoppers arranged in a line, each hopper containing a stack of signatures; a frame on which said hoppers are mounted, a signature conveyor having a plurality of spaced pockets positioned parallel to said line of hoppers; each of said hoppers including a dispensing means for repetitively engaging a signature from its stack of signatures, separating said signature from other signatures in said stack, and delivering said signature to one of said pockets on said signature conveyer; said frame including hopper-mounting means for mounting said hoppers on said frame at any of a plurality of overlapping positions which are offset from adjacent positions along said frame by a distance which is significantly less than the widths of said hoppers and for selectively allowing independent relative movement of said hoppers along said frame to all said overlapping positions for adjusting the overall operation of said signature gatherer machine; a power source and a variable-length linkage means for providing power to said hoppers at all said overlapping positions, said variable-length linkage means having an adjustable variable effective length from said power source to each of said respective hoppers for providing power from said power source to each of said hoppers at all said overlapping positions to which said hoppers are movable.