Corrugated cardboard sheet feeder

A corrugated cardboard sheet feeder comprising:

• a hopper adapted to store a plurality of corrugated cardboard sheets in a stacked state and including a front gate formed with a lower end opening for passing, one by one, a lower lost-layer corrugated cardboard sheet among the plurality of corrugated cardboard sheets on the downstream side of a sheet transferring direction;
• an inclined type kicker including:
• a push-out face adapted to push out the lowermost-layer corrugated cardboard sheet toward the lower end opening side of the front gate in abutment against a rear end of the lowermost-layer corrugated cardboard sheet stored in the hopper on the upstream side of the sheet transferring direction;
• and
• a rear end lift-up face which is obliquely formed such that the height thereof is gradually increased toward the upstream side of the sheet transferring direction and adapted to lift upward a rear end side of a corrugated cardboard sheet located on the upper layer side of the lowermost-layer corrugated cardboard sheet in association with an operation of pushing out the lowermost-layer corrugated cardboard sheet;
• a kicker reciprocation unit adapted to reciprocate the inclined type kicker between a standby position where the inclined type kicker is put on standby on the upstream side of the sheet transferring direction beyond the rear end of the lowermost-layer corrugated cardboard sheet which is in a state before pushed out by the inclined type kicker and a stop position where the inclined type kicker stops after the lowermost-layer corrugated cardboard sheet has been pushed out and the rear end side of the corrugated cardboard sheet located on the upper layer side of the lowermost-layer corrugated cardboard sheet has been lifted upward by the inclined type kicker;
• and
• a sheet feed and transfer unit adapted to feed and transfer the lowermost-layer corrugated cardboard sheet which has passed through the lower end opening in the front gate toward another device disposed on the downstream side of the sheet transferring direction.