Delivery fan with undulated fan pockets

An apparatus for receiving sheet material assemblages and for forming an overlapped stream of the sheet material assemblages, said apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of blades;
• said plurality of blades including a first set of blades, said blades of said first set of blades being rotatably mounted about an axis and being spaced axially apart from one another and having surfaces that define one side of said pocket for engaging one side of a sheet material assemblage;
• said plurality of blades including a second set of blades, said blades of said second set of blades being rotatably mounted about the axis and being spaced axially apart from one another and having surfaces that define the other side of said pocket for engaging the other side of the sheet material assemblage, said blades of first and second sets of blades being circumferentially spaced apart and rotating about the axis when receiving sheet material assemblages and forming the overlapped stream of the sheet material assemblages;
• said surfaces of said blades of said first and second sets of blades deforming the sheet material assemblage into a series of undulations, the undulations extending in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the sheet material assemblage;
• and
• means for supporting said first and second sets of blades for circumferential relative movement therebetween to adjust the circumferential spacing between said first and second sets of blades to thereby adjust the amount of deformation of the sheet material assemblage, the size of the undulations varying as a function of the amount of circumferential spacing between said first set of blades and said second set of blades, said supporting means including a first shaft connected to said first set of blades and having its longitudinal central axis coinciding with the axis of said first and second sets of blades, a second shaft coaxial with and concentric within said first shaft and connected to said second set of blades, said second set of blades being circumferentially adjusted relative to said first set of blades when said second shaft is rotated relative to said first shaft about the longitudinal central axis of said first and second shafts.

An apparatus for receiving sheet material assemblages and for forming an overlapped stream of the sheet material assemblages, said apparatus comprising:

• a first shaft supported for rotation about its longitudinal central axis;
• a second shaft coaxial with said first shaft and supported for rotation about its longitudinal central axis;
• a plurality of blades including a first set of blades connected to said first shaft, said blades of said first set of blades being spaced axially apart from one another along the longitudinal central axis of said first shaft and having surfaces defining one side of a pocket for engaging one side of a sheet material assemblage, and a second set of blades connected to said second shaft, said blades of said second set of blades being spaced axially apart form one another along the longitudinal central axis of said second shaft and having surfaces defining the other side of said pocket for engaging the other side of the sheet material assemblage, said blades of said first and second sets of blades being circumferentially spaced apart and rotating with said first and second shafts about their longitudinal central axes when receiving sheet material assemblages and forming the overlapped stream of sheet material assemblages;
• said surfaces of said blades of said first and second sets of blades deforming the sheet material assemblage into a series of undulations, the undulations extending in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the sheet material assemblage;
• and
• means for adjusting the extent of the circumferential spacing between said first and second sets of blades while said blades of said first and second sets of blades are rotating about the longitudinal central axes of said first and second shafts, the amount of deformation of the sheet material assemblage and the size of the undulations varying as a function of the amount of circumferential spacing between said first set of blades and said second set of blades.

An apparatus for receiving sheet material assemblages and for forming an overlapped stream of the sheet material assemblages, said apparatus comprising:

• a shaft rotatable about its longitudinal central axis;
• a plurality of cylindrical hubs, each of said hubs having a geometric center through which the longitudinal central axis of said shaft passes, each of said hubs being spaced along the axial extent of said shaft;
• means for releasably fastening each of said hubs to said shaft to rotate with said shaft and being releasable to enable circumferential adjustment of each of said hubs around said shaft;
• a plurality of fan discs including a first group of fan discs and a second group of fan discs, said discs of said first group of discs alternating with said discs of said second group of discs along the axial extent of said shaft;
• means for attaching each of said fan discs to a respective one of said hubs, each of said plurality of fan discs having a fan blade extending radially from the outer periphery of its associated hub, said blades of said second group of discs being circumferentially spaced around said shaft from said blades of said first group of discs due to the positioning of said hubs for said second group of discs relative to said hubs for said first group of discs;
• said blades of said first group of discs having surfaces defining one side of said pocket for engaging one side of the sheet material assemblage, said blades of said second group of discs having surfaces defining the other side of said pocket for engaging the other side of the sheet material assemblage, said blades of said first and second groups of discs rotating about the longitudinal central axis of said shaft when receiving sheet material assemblages and forming the overlapped stream of the sheet material assemblages;
• and
• said surfaces of said blades of said first and second groups of discs deforming the sheet material assemblage into a series of undulations, the undulations extending in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the sheet material assemblage, the size of the undulations varying as a function of the amount of circumferential spacing between said blades of said first group of discs and said blades of said second group of discs due to the relative positioning of said hubs on said shaft.