Roll feed bottom sheet inserter

A roll feed bottom sheet inserter for placing bottom sheet material under a load moving along and supported by a working flight of a conveyor, comprising:

• a bottom sheet roll support configured to be positioned to a side of the conveyor to mount a bottom sheet roll for rotation about a roll axis adjacent to the working flight, and to feed sheet material from the roll and toward the conveyor;
• a training surface adjacent the roll support, oriented to receive bottom sheet material from the bottom sheet roll and to angularly deflect the bottom sheet material along a bottom sheet feed path;
• and
• a bottom sheet feeder adjacent the bottom sheet insertion station and operable to receive the bottom sheet material from the training surface and adapted to feed the bottom sheet material into the forward path of the load on the conveyor such that the bottom sheet material is received between the load and the working flight.

A process for inserting a bottom sheet from a roll of bottom sheet material into position under a load on a conveyor and over a top support surface of the conveyor which defines a forward path of travel for the load, comprising:

• mounting a bottom sheet roll for rotation about a roll axis located along side the conveyor support surface and forward path of travel;
• feeding bottom sheet material from the roll along an initial feed path toward and under the conveyor support surface;
• training the bottom sheet material over a mandrel to deflect the bottom sheet material angularly under the conveyor support surface and into a bottom sheet feed path that converges with the forward path and with a bottom sheet insertion station located along the conveyor support surface;
• feeding the bottom sheet material through the bottom sheet insertion station;
• moving the load in the forward path to intersect with the bottom sheet material at the bottom sheet insertion station;
• and
• simultaneously moving the bottom sheet material and load in the forward path with the bottom sheet material feeding under the load and onto the conveyor support surface.

A process for adapting a load moving conveyor to insert bottom sheet material from a roll of bottom sheet material into position under a working flight of the conveyor that defines a forward path of travel for the load, comprising:

• providing a bottom sheet frame
• mounting a bottom sheet roll to the bottom sheet frame for rotation about a roll axis;
• feeding bottom sheet material from the roll along an initial feed path from the roll to a mandrel;
• training the bottom sheet material over the mandrel to deflect the bottom sheet material angularly from the initial feed path and into a bottom sheet feed path;
• gripping the bottom sheet material between powered nip rolls that are operable to pull the bottom sheet material from the roll and over the mandrel, and to feed the bottom sheet material along a bottom sheet material feed path;
• providing a bottom sheet insertion station along the conveyor;
• positioning the mandrel and powered nip rolls beneath the conveyor support surface such that the bottom sheet material feed path converges with the bottom sheet insertion station located along the conveyor support surface;
• and
• driving the nip rolls to feed the bottom sheet material through the bottom sheet insertion station.