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US 5,184,811 AGranted
Method and apparatus for feeding sheets
AssigneeSun Automation, Inc.
InventorsLouis M. Sardella, John B. West
Life of this patent
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AssigneeSun Automation, Inc.
InventorsLouis M. Sardella, John B. West
Estimating the term…
Paperboard sheets are fed by a feeder including driven wheels which engage the lowermost sheet of a stack and drive it through the nip rolls of a box-finishing machine is synchronism with the latter. Supporting the sheets is a grate movable between a raised position wherein the wheels are spaced from the sheet and a lowered position wherein the lowermost sheet engages the wheels and is fed thereby to the nip rolls. Below the grate is a vacuum box for holding the sheet on the wheels. Raising and lowering of the grate is effected by a cam which may be adjusted to vary the feed stroke in accordance with the length of the sheets. For driving the wheels there is provided a dual input drive mechanism including a constant velocity input drive and a variable input drive which are resolved at a single output drive to the wheels. The output drive varies in velocity such that when the wheels initially engage the sheet, the wheels are at nearly zero or absolute zero velocity and subsequently the wheels reach a constant velocity for driving the sheet at said constant velocity which is matched with the surface velocity of the nip rolls. In an alternative embodiment, the feeder may be adjusted to feed either a single sheet or a plurality of sheets per cycle of the associated box-finishing machine.
A method of feeding a sheet to nip rolls of a box-finishing machine wherein the nip rolls are rotating in opposite directions at a predetermined surface velocity, the steps comprising frictionally engaging a feed member with the sheet to positively drive the sheet to and between the nip rolls, driving the feed member with a surface velocity matching said surface velocity of the nip rolls to positively engage and drive a substantial length greater than one half the length of the sheet through the nip rolls and maintaining the surface velocity of the feed member constant and equal to said surface velocity of the nip rolls over a substantial length greater than one half the length of the sheet as the sheet is driven through the nip rolls and wherein the feed member is driven with a first variable velocity input drive and a second constant velocity input drive.
In a box-finishing machine or the like including a rotatable major repeat cylinder having a repeat length and having nip rolls rotatable in opposite directions at a predetermined surface velocity for feeding sheets to the repeat cylinder;
A sheet feeder comprising in combination, a feed member for engaging a sheet to drive it along a predetermined path, and drive mans for driving the feed member over a cycle wherein said feed member increases from nearly zero velocity to a predetermined velocity which is maintained constant for a predetermined stroke period, and wherein said sheet initially engages said feed member when the feed member is at nearly zero velocity and subsequently is driven at said constant velocity during said predetermined stroke period and wherein said drive means includes a first variable velocity input drive and a second constant velocity input drive.
A sheet feeder comprising in combination, a feed member for engaging a sheet to drive it along a predetermined path, and drive means for driving the feed member over a cycle wherein said feed member increases form absolute zero velocity to a predetermined velocity which is maintained constant for a predetermined stroke period, and wherein said sheet initially engages said feed member when the feed member is at absolute zero velocity and subsequently is driven at said constant velocity during said predetermined stroke period and wherein said drive means includes a first variable velocity input drive and a second constant velocity input drive.
A sheet feeder for feeding sheets to nip rolls of a box-finishing machine, the feeder comprising in combination a feed member for engaging a sheet to drive it along a predetermined path, and drive means for driving the feed member over a cycle with a variable velocity, said drive means including a planetary gear system, a first variable velocity input drive operatively connected to the planetary gear system, and a second constant velocity input drive operatively connected to the planetary gear system, said planetary gear system having an output for driving said feed member at a variable velocity and at a constant velocity during said cycle, and wherein said variable velocity input drive includes an indexing drive member.
A sheet feeder comprising in combination, a feed member for engaging a sheet to drive it along a generally horizontal path, a grate movable above and below the feed member to respectively release and engage the sheet relative to the feed member, drive means for driving the grate including a first cam for raising the grate and a second cam for lowering the grate, and means for adjusting the cams relative to each other to vary the point at which the grate is moved above the feed member to release the sheet from the feed member.
A sheet feeder comprising in combination a plurality of feed members for engaging a sheet to drive it along a generally horizontal path, a grate movable between a raised position above the feed members for disengaging the sheet and the feed members and a lowered position for engaging the sheet on the feed members, drive means for driving the feed members at a constant velocity for a predetermined period for positively driving the sheet, said drive means including an output operatively connected to the feed members to drive the same, a first input drive of varying velocity operatively connected to the output and a second input drive of constant velocity operatively connected to the output.
In a box-finishing machine including nip rolls, a sheet feeder for feeding sheets to the nip rolls, the sheet feeder comprising in combination a feed member for engaging a sheet to drive it along a predetermined path to the nip rolls, and drive means for driving the feed member over a cycle with acceleration and then a constant velocity, said drive means including a planetary gear system, a first variable velocity input drive operatively connected to the planetary gear system, and a second constant velocity input drive operatively connected to the planetary gear system, said planetary gear system having an output for driving said feed member with acceleration and then with a constant velocity during each cycle.
A sheet feeder comprising in combination a feed member for engaging a sheet to drive it along a predetermined path, drive means for driving the feed member over a cycle with a variable velocity, said drive means including a planetary gear system, a first variable velocity input drive operatively connected to the planetary gear system, and a second constant velocity input drive operatively connected to the planetary gear system, said planetary gear system having an output for driving said feed member at a variable velocity and at a constant velocity during said cycle, and wherein said variable velocity input drive includes an indexing drive member.
A sheet feeder comprising in combination, a plurality of feed members for engaging a sheet to drive it along a predetermined path, and drive means for driving the feed members such that the velocity of the sheet increases from nearly zero velocity to a predetermined velocity which is maintained constant for a predetermined period, and wherein said drive means includes a first variable velocity input drive and a second constant velocity input drive.
A sheet feeder comprising in combination, a plurality of feed members for engaging a sheet to drive it along a predetermined path, and drive means for driving the feed members such that the velocity of the sheet increases from absolute zero velocity to a predetermined velocity which is maintained constant for a predetermined period, and wherein said drive means includes a first variable velocity input drive and a second constant velocity input drive.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.