US 4,111,411 AGranted

Sheet stacking apparatus

AssigneeMasson Scott Thrissell Engineering Limited

InventorsBernard Albert Graves, John Edward Mockett

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Abstract

A stack of sheets is formed in a paper cutter by feeding spaced sheets from a first conveyor to a second and slower conveyor to overlap the sheets which are then fed onto a pallet, the latter being lowered as more sheets are fed. When a stack is near completion the first and second conveyors are decelerated and some sheets diverted from the first conveyor to form a gap in the flow of sheets, the second conveyor only is then accelerated for a period of time to enlarge the gap and then decelerate, both conveyors then being accelerated to normal speed. An auxiliary support is then moved into the path of the sheets falling on to the pallet in the gap previously created. While the completed stack is being removed a new stack is forming on the auxiliary support. The full pallet is replaced by an empty one and the auxiliary support is withdrawn to permit the new stack to drop onto the pallet. The gap may be created without diverting any sheets from the first conveyor and the stack may be changed without the use of the auxiliary support.

Claims5

Dependent claims

Sheet stacking apparatus comprising a stop member, a first conveyor arranged to carry a succession of sheets spaced apart in their direction of travel, a second conveyor arranged to receive sheets from said first conveyor and carry them to a delivery position horizontally spaced from said stop member by more than a sheet length and with sufficient velocity to travel into engagement with said stop member, means for driving said first and second conveyors so that said second conveyor travels at a slower speed than that of said first conveyor, and said sheets on transfer to said second conveyor are brought into overlapping relationship, a movable platform below the space between said second conveyor and said stop member and on to which sheets are fed in succession to form a stack containing a selected number of sheets, hoisting means for raising and lowering said platform, and further drive means adapted to be connected to and disconnected from said second conveyor, wherein said drive means is operable to decelerate said first and second conveyors in unison, said further drive means is arranged to be connected for a predetermined period of time to said second conveyor after such deceleration to cause the latter to accelerate relative to said first conveyor, and to be disconnected from said second conveyor, after said predetermined period of time has elapsed, to cause said second conveyor to decelerate relative to said first conveyor.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.