Apparatus for gathering and singularizing stacks of paper sheets or the like

Claim 1

Appparatus for manipulating groups of discrete commodities, particularly for singularizing groups of stacks of paper sheet or the like, comprising a first transporting unit arranged to receive a succession of groups consisting of at least substantially aligned neighboring commodities and to discontinuously advance such groups at a variable speed in a predetermined direction along a first portion of a predetermined path so that successive groups leaving said first unit are separated from each other by gaps, said first transporting unit comprising conveyor means for successive groups of commodities; a second transporting unit comprising a series of gathering conveyors defining a second portion of said path downstream of said first portion, as considered in said direction, first drive means for driving said conveyors at a constant first speed to thereby advance successive groups arriving from said first unit in said direction, second drive means for intermittently and individually driving at least certain of said conveyors at a higher second speed so as to eliminate the gaps between successive groups which are supplied by said first unit and to thus form a composite group of neighboring commodities, and means for regulating the operation of said second drive means, said regulating means including means for accelerating said certain gathering conveyor to said second speed one after the other, as considered in said direction, said first transporting unit further comprising means for intermittently driving said conveyor means at speeds verying between zero speed and a speed exceeding said first speed; and a third transporting unit including singularizing conveyor means defining a third portion of said path downstream of said second portion and operative to convert said composite group into a row of spaced-apart equidistant commodities, and means for driving said singularizing conveyor means at a speed exceeding said first speed.