Sheet separating and transport apparatus

Claim 1

Sheet severing, separating and transport apparatus, particularly for use with a printing machine having a frame (28); feed roller means (2) for feeding a web of a substrate (1); a pair of cutter cylinders (3, 4) cutting the web of substrate being fed thereto by said feed roller means into individual sheets (7); a gripper cylinder (12, 13, 14) for receiving the cut sheets, and operating at the circumferential speed higher than the speed of the feeding roller means (2); a first and a second separating roller (10,11; 10a,11a); belt transport means (8,9; 8a, 9a) to receive the cut sheets from said cutter cylinders and to deliver them to the gripper cylinder; and means synchronizing operation of the cutter cylinders, the separating rollers and the belt transport means for timed delivery of cut sheets to said gripper cylinder, and adjustable for different lengths of the cut sheets comprising, in accordance with the invention a first carrier structure (38) longitudinally-with respect to the direction of transport of the sheets by said belt transport means (8, 9)-moveably mounted in the frame (28); the first separating roller (10, 10a) being secured to the carrier for longitudinal movement therewith; a second carrier structure (52, 53); the second separating roller (11) being secured to said second carrier structure; a shaft (32) rotatably secured in the second carrier structure and having an axis of rotation parallel to the first separating roller (10); positioning means (55) adjustably securing the second carrier structure (52, 53) to the first carrier structure to adjust the spacing between the first and second separating rollers; a gear belt (33) drivingly connecting the first and second separating rollers; the belt transport means including a first endless transport belt means (8,8a) being passed with one run adjacent the circumference of the first separating roller (10) and at one side of the substrate and then the cut sheet (1, 7), and a second endless transport belt means (9, 9a) being passed with one run adjacent the circumference of the second separating roller (11) and at the other side of the substrate; and positive drive means (27) positively driving one (10) of the separating rollers from the cutter cylinders (3, 4) with the same circumferential speed as the cutter cylinders; and belt drive means for driving the endless belt means (8, 8a, 9, 9a) at essentially the same linear speed as the cutter cylinders, so that the sheets (7) cut by the cutter cylinders (3, 4) from the web of substrate (1) will be transported to the separating rollers (10, 10a, 11, 11a) and gripped with the leading edge of the sheet by the separating rollers upon arival thereat, and accelerated to the speed of the cutter cylinders and hence of the gripper cylinder (12, 13, 14) while being maintained in stretched, taut, condition by the endless belt means, longitudinal movement of the first carrier structure (38) carrying said separating rollers (10, 11, 10a, 11a) along the length of the paths of the belt transport means permitting adjustment of the apparatus to accommodate sheets (7) of various lengths.